


Rent-A-Boyfriend!

by RicePudding743



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28270206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RicePudding743/pseuds/RicePudding743
Summary: **THIS IS A PARODY OF THE ANIME/MANGA "RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND", THIS CONCEPT WAS NOT CREATED BY ME! HELL, THIS STORY STRUCTURE WASN'T MADE BY ME! IF YOU'RE INTO THIS, PLEASE CHECK OUT "RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND"!**Hello, and thank you for downloading "Rent A Boyfriend"! You simply pick the date of your choice and go for it! For only 5,000 yen an hour (roughly 50 dollars per hour in USA terms), you get to spend a dream-like time with any type of guy you want! Find the perfect date for just about anything. Reunions, weddings, even normal outings!MC's pathetic ass has been thoroughly dumped by her boyfriend, so one good way to cope was to try love again! She meets Oikawa Tooru, a childish volleyball player who is now her rental boyfriend.--------------------------------------------------------------"Haha, but you didn't really enjoy it right?" asked MC, " Pretending to like me," Oikawa stopped in his tracks and turned around."It's my job dummy!" he smiled, " But I really had fun,"Could fake loveBecome real?...Nah
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Original Character(s), Hinata Shouyou/Reader, Oikawa Tooru/Original Female Character(s), Oikawa Tooru/Reader, Tsukishima Kei/Original Female Character(s), Tsukishima Kei/Reader, Ushijima Wakatoshi/Original Female Character(s), Ushijima Wakatoshi/Reader
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34





	1. Rent-A-Boyfriend!

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't physically bring myself to writing in 2nd Person POV. So I'll stick with the name MC for now. Self insert yourself or an original character if you want, idc. Just remember that the actions that the main character does is up to me, but I'm willing to take suggestions.

|MC POV|

  
  


Hi! I’m MC and I’m an 18 year old college student. And I’ve got an achievement like no other! I have a boyfriend! I repeat! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!

“ Yeah, |Name| this isn’t really working out for me. I think we should break up”

______________________________________________________________________

  
  


_ Dumped…. Just like that _ I thought, facedown on my bed. He was my first boyfriend and the relationship only lasted a friggin month! I scrolled through my phone in an attempt to delete the pain, but seeing his social media page only made it triple. 

“ H-he already changed his status to single and ready?” I muttered to myself.  _ Was I…. really that pathetic? _ I shook my head profusely.  _ DAMMIT |NAME| A FAILED RELATIONSHIP ISN’T GOING TO DEFINE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! THERE’S MORE TO YOU THAN ROMANCE RIGHT? RIGHT? _

______________________________________________________________________

  
  


_ I really am pathetic _ , I thought to myself on a street corner. My phone, sensing my despair, inserted an ad in front of my eyes. 

*Flashback*

“ R-rent A Boyfriend?” I read outloud, “ Ladies shouldn’t be out of the loop too? Find the perfect date for just about anything. Reunions, weddings, even normal outings,” 

  
  


*Flashforward* 

“ My idiocy is immeasurable!” I cursed out loud, “ THIS WON’T GET ME OVER HIM! NOTHING WILL-” 

“ You in the red blouse and jeans,” said a voice, “ MC right? You look very lovely, ” I looked up and saw a gorgeous young man, around my age, who had light brown hair. He had one of those smiles that showed off his sheek personality. Wearing a teal polo that showed off his arms, he was already catching the attention of multiple passing women.

“ Y-yeah!” I confirmed, looking up and down.  _ HANDSOME! _ I panicked  _ VERY, VERY HANDSOME! _

“ Let’s go!” he chirped happily. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the nearest restaurant. We sat ourselves down and had a bit of small talk. 

“ Wait, you’re a college student too?!” he exclaimed, “ Which year?!” 

“ Uhh, I’m a freshman,” I answered nervously. 

“ Haha, that means I’m your senpai, ” he said, puffing out his chest a bit. “ Please, call me Oikawa-san!” 

“ Like hell I would!” I joked.  _ This is actually…. Pretty nice.  _

“ Now, before we start our date….” he held out his hands.  _ Ah yes… that _ . I realized. I fumbled my hands into my purse and gave him 15,000 yen. 

“ Let’s go now,” he announced as he stood up, “ Princess,” My eyes grew wide, my boyfriend never called me “Princess” before! Then again, he wasn’t the type to. 

__________________________________________________________________

We walked around the aquarium for a while and Oikawa was the perfect gentleman. He gave me cute little nicknames and complimented me every, what, 5 minutes? The date was overall spectacular. 

“ Hey MC, that dolphin kinda reminds me of you! Cute and playful!” he smiled at me. I simply smiled back, I was having fun! Actual, actual fun! When I returned to my lone apartment that night, I gave him a five star review and set up a second date at the same place. 

~The Next Date~

It was the same thing as the last. The nicknames, the flirtatious looks, the handsome Oikawa. Great, right? Well, it took me a while to realize it but everything he said…. Was an exact copy of everything on the last date. Hell, there were flaws with the last date too! Granted, I was distracted by his looks on the last date (This date too) but could you blame me? THIS MAN LOOKED LIKE HE WAS SCULPTED BY FRIGGIN MICHAELANGELO! But the main problems with our dates had to be that….

“ Hey MC, has anyone ever told you how cute your eyes look when you sparkle?”

“ MC, you hair looks great underneath this blue light,” 

His compliments…. Kinda seem like a routine to him. The nicknames, his demeanor…. 

  
  


*At Home*

  
  


“IT’S ALL AN ACT!” I exclaimed screaming into my pillow, “ DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!” In the midst of my rage, I gave Oikawa a one star review. I commented “This guy doesn’t even know that comparing me to a dolphin was actually offensive as hell. Dolphins actually have shit personalities!” 

  
  
  


**And yet I set up another date with him**

  
  


This time, we were at a zoo. Oikawa went double on the compliments and flirtation. Needless to say, he cranked his “charm levels” to the MAX. This nonsense went on for an hour or so until I finally cracked. 

“ You don’t have to be fake!” I told him, “ These nicknames, your compliments, don’t you think you can hurt someone when you’re so fake to them?!” My little outburst gathered the attention of some passersbys. Oikawa stayed silent and then he dragged me to a secluded area of the zoo. Where he started to… whine like a child?

“ You don’t have to be so mean to me!” he pouted, “ My rank went down quite a bit because of your ridiculous one-star review! And why the hell did you expect me to know that dolphins have shit personalities?!” He calmed down a bit and added with all seriousness, “ Also, I’m complimenting you because it’s my  **job** ! What else did you expect?!” That last remark hit me harder than a truck. He’s… right. Why the hell did I expect him to be his true self, especially in this profession? I was clearly in the wrong. 

“ Yeah, you’re right….” I admitted, “ I was completely in the wrong, I’m sorry,” Oikawa looked shocked at my apology, then very very happy. 

“ It’s ok! As long as you give me a five-star review and comment: ‘I was completely wrong and Oikawa-san is the best~’ then I’ll forgive you completely! We all make mistakes about character!” He used his hand to comb through his perfect hair.  _ So this is the real Oikawa Tooru… _ I realized  _ So… narcissistic _ . “ Welp, we have some time left on our date so let’s just keep on going!” My phone buzzed in my pocket. I picked up the call. 

“ MC! GRANDMA COLLAPSED!” I heard my mother through the phone.  _ G-grandma? _ Little did I know, Oikawa was still talking and he pouted when he realized I wasn’t paying attention. 

“ MY GRANDMA COLLAPSED, I’M SORRY I HAVE TO GO!” I informed him. His eyes widened considerably as I ran out of the zoo. 

“ HEY DON’T JUST LEAVE ME BEHIND-” He whined. 

~At the hospital~

No One’s POV

  
  


“ Really,” pouted MC’s grandmother, “ I faint, and apparently everybody’s overreacting like this-” 

“ Of course Mom,” said MC’s mother, “ You’re getting old now and we’re worried about you,” 

“ I agree,” added MC’s father, “ We have to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself. Your body isn’t as healthy as it used to be-” 

“ Does this place have Wi-Fi?” asked the old woman, ignoring her daughter and son-in-law’s concerns. 

“ That’s your concern right now? You have to rest!” scolded MC’s mother. 

“ HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!” shouted the grandma. She turned her head. “ Enough about that though…. Who is that young man?” Oikawa and MC both shuddered in their seats. 

“ Oh, I think they’re boyfriend and girlfriend!” informed a nurse. “ I saw them together at the aquarium another day!”  _ DAMMIT WOMAN, I WAS ABOUT TO EXPLAIN THAT WE WERE JUST-  _ MC’s train of thought was interrupted once she saw the expression on her grandmother’s face. 

“ Oh! Actually er-” started Oikawa. 

“ Yes! He’s my boyfriend!” confirmed MC, clutching Oikawa’s hand. 

“ Really?!” exclaimed MC’s mother. 

“ Hello everyone!” Oikawa gave a dazzling smile, “ I’m Oikawa Tooru, MC’s boyfriend! I’m sorry to have to introduce myself under such circumstances!” There was silence in the room until the sounds of MC’s grandmother sobbing broke it. 

“ DISCHARGE ME THIS INSTANT AND PREPARE A FEAST!” she commanded, ripping off her IV. 

“ MOM, YOU CAN’T JUST DISCHARGE YOURSELF FROM THE HOSPITAL!” exclaimed MC’s father. 

“ LISTEN TO YOURSELF! OUR MC’S BROUGHT HOME AN ACTUAL BOY! A REAL-FOR-REAL CUTIE PIE WHO LOOKS LIKE A GREEK GOD!” the shouting turned into a quiet sobbing, “ After 18 years, our MC finally…. She finally…” MC went to her grandmother and hugged her tightly. 

“ Yeah, I finally did it,” she confirmed. After a few more minutes of small talk, MC’s parents left MC to take care of her grandmother. When the two left the room, MC’s grandmother asked if Oikawa and MC has had sex yet. MC spat out her water while Oikawa choked on his. Yet he somehow played it off. 

“ GRANDMA YOU CAN’T JUST ASK THESE THINGS!” MC exclaimed. 

“ What? Physical compatibility matters a lot in marriage,” she responded nonchalantly. 

“ M-marriage?!” choked MC. 

“ We just started dating, so we’re not really ready for that kind of talk yet,” informed Oikawa, “ But I would be honored to have your permission, Grandmother” 

“ I HAVE TO TELL THE OTHER GIRLS!” announced the old woman, springing from her bed, “ I PROMISED I WOULD TELL THEM IF MY MC EVER GOT A BOYFRIEND!” She sprinted quickly out of the room. 

“ Uhhh what’s going on?” asked Oikawa nervously. 

“ Well, this is the third time she’s been hospitalized so it makes sense that she made a few friends,” answered MC. 

“ Oh…. **Oh no** ,” responded Oikawa, shaking, “ My grandmother…. She goes to this hospital too....” 

“ YOU CHOOSE TO TELL ME NOW?”

“ And she doesn’t know that I’m a rental boyfriend… WHAT DO I DO???” cried Oikawa, grabbing his head. 

“ OK, panic later, RUNNING AWAY NOW!” The two poked their heads out of the hospital room to hear the Grandmother, and other voices around the corner. 

“ ESCAPE!” whisper-cried Oikawa as he dragged MC to the vacant room across theirs. There, they attempted to hatch a plan. 

“ OK SO YOU DISTRACT THEM, AND I’LL RUN!” Oikawa said. 

“ DISTRACT THEM? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?” retorted MC. 

“ HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW?” 

“ Maybe we should check the vacant room,” said a voice. Oikawa and MC froze. Panicking further, they hid together in a blanket and attempted to stay as quiet as they could.  _ T-this position _ , realized MC. Oikawa was on top of her, attempting not to make direct eye contact.  _ IT’S TOO FRIGGIN COMPROMISING! _

“ W-what the hell were you thinking?!” she whispered at him. 

“ Like you had a better idea!” he retorted. 

“ Hello? Is anybody in here? Uhh did you see a couple around these parts?”

“ I heard they were getting out of the hospital” responded MC in a raspy voice. The footsteps fade away. MC felt something on her stomach.  _ Oh Hell no _ . She kicked Oikawa out of the bed. 

“ WHAT THE HELL?” she exclaimed. Oikawa rubbed his head profusely to numb the pain. 

“ HE HAS A MIND OF HIS OWN, DON’T BLAME ME FOR MY BODY!” 

“ Tooru?” asked a gentle voice. The two turned their heads to an old, frail woman in the doorway. 

“ G-grandma?” asked Oikawa. At the same time, MC’s grandmother walked into the room. 

“ Sayuri, what’s wrong?” asked MC’s grandmother. “ MC?!” 

“ Wait… That’s your granddaughter? That means… Tooru and her are dating?!” realized Sayuri. Oikawa looked visibly panicked.  _ I, I can’t make this worse for him! I have to tell them! _ Realized MC. 

“ Uh, actually Oikawa isn’t-” started MC. 

“ MC, you silly goose!” said Oikawa affectionately, holding MC’s shoulder, “ Our grandmothers’ are friends? It was like our relationship was written in the stars itself!” 

**Outside The Hospital**

  
  


“ Sorry… for making you lie for me,” apologized MC. She and Oikawa were outside the hospital, sitting on one of the benches. 

“ It’s cool, a ton of clients want to introduce me to their families. But who could blame them?” Oikawa responded, flipping his hair. 

“ Ya know, my family runs a store called Nagomi Sake…” started MC, “ My gramps started it, but he died young and with debt. So all these years, my grandma has been running it herself while raising my mom… She’s kinda like a deity in our family. I’m the biggest grandma’s girl on the planet, so I wanted to grant her one wish before she goes. I actually had a boyfriend, but he refused to meet her. And then he ultimately dumped me. Out of desperation I downloaded “Rent-A-Boyfriend” and finally rented you… Isn’t that lame? I’m such a friggin rabbit!” MC chuckled in self-deprecation. Oikawa stayed silent for a few moments. And stood up to walk away. “ But…. I’m going to apologize to my gran, and introduce a real boyfriend to her!”

Oikawa froze in his tracks, then turned around, “ ‘Those who decide to change have already started their transformation’ amiright?” He smiled serenely but only received a small whack on the head. “ What was that for?” 

“ Wow you really ruined a beautiful moment didn’t you?” chuckled MC. 

“ But if you’re feeling cowardly again…” Oikawa reassured her, “ You can always just call me,” 

~That Night~

  
  


Oikawa was just out of the shower when he heard a notification on his phone. 

“ From Rent-A-Boyfriend?” he asked curiously, then opened. He found a five star review on it.  _ Zero complaints! Had loads of fun! _ He read it over a few times then burst out laughing. “ You didn’t put a single word of what I asked huh?” he chuckled, “ Ms. Aquarium,” 

MC’s POV

“ My first day of college, huh?” I said, sitting on my apartment balcony.  _ This is the beginning! The start of my non-rental boyfriend life! _ My phone flashed with a notification on my ex. My spirits plummeted. I shook my head and slapped my face a few times. “ I can do it if I try!” I announced to myself. “ I CAN DO IT!” I heard a gasp and an item being dropped on the ground. I turned my head and saw Oikawa, on my right on his own balcony. 


	2. The Rental Boyfriend and the Contract!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MC's first day on campus goes horribly south until she meets a calm, blunt giant. She and Oikawa make a bargain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Haikyuu or Rent a Girlfriend. *Let's hope this doesn't become another discarded project*

MC POV

“Eh- EHHHHHH????” Oikawa and I exclaimed.  _ You gotta be kidding me…. I thought I could put all this rental stuff behind me! What the actual hell universe? _ Oikawa had the same thought and immediately went back inside. I heard then furious knocks on my door. I rushed outside to meet the handsome young man. 

“ Y-you didn’t stalk me right?  **Right** ?” he asked frantically. 

“ OF COURSE NOT DUMBASS!” I replied. My eyes went south and saw how his wet shirt clung to his abs.  _ DID HE JUST COME OUT OF THE FRIGGIN SHOWER? _ Noticing my wandering eyes, Oikawa hugged his body and jokingly moaned. 

“ Oh MC~ You’re such a pervert!” He said in an overly-feminine voice. My blush immediately faded away as I hit his head with a rolled newspaper. 

“ S-shuddup!” I stuttered. “ OK, ARE WE OR ARE WE NOT IN THE SAME COLLEGE?”

“ DON’T THINK I’LL FALL FOR THAT MS. STALKER!” announced Oikawa, covering his body. 

“ IT’S NOT THAT YOU IDIOT!” I shouted, “ I just don’t want to ‘anime’ this up,”

“ Huh?”

“ Like, too many coincidences have happened recently…. I just thought that…” I started, but I then got a brainwave, “ WHAT IF YOU’RE THE STALKER?”

“ EXCUSE ME?” gasped Oikawa, “ IF I HAD TO STALK ANYONE, IT WOULDN’T BE YOU!” 

“ Well I’m sorry that you’re the one acting way too suspicious!” I pouted. “ But I go to the university like, 15 minutes away from here,” 

“ Ok thank goodness that isn’t mine,” sighed Oikawa. 

“ WHAT THE HELL IS ‘THANK GOODNESS’ SUPPOSED TO MEAN?” growled MC. 

“ UHHH IT’S JUST THAT PEOPLE THERE DON’T REALLY KNOW MY PROFESSION AND UHHHH I HAVE FRIENDS THERE TOO SO I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE OK!” defended Oikawa. 

“ Alright, tomorrow I’m going to my school for the first time,” I said, “ Let’s not get in each other’s way alright?” 

“ Fair enough Ms. Stalker,” agreed Oikawa.

“ I’M NOT A FRIGGIN-”

  
  


~The Next Day~

I stood in front of the enormous campus in front of me. 

“ MC!” I turned my head to see my two closest friends behind me. 

“ Fellow virgins!” I greeted jokingly. They both pouted and gave me a good whack on the head. “ Fair enough” I chuckled. I knew these two since, what, middle school? 

“ So we saw you with a boy the other day~” one teased. My entire body stopped functioning.  _ Do they know about the Renting Boyfriend thing? I’m screwed! I’ll never live this down! My social life  _ (Author’s Note: Yeah, she barely has one)  _ is screwed! _ “ So you moved past  _ him _ already?” 

“ Uh, what?” I gaped, confused. 

“ We saw you with a chestnut haired hottie,” she clarified, “ Are you really over Tsukishima?”  _ Ah yes, him _ . 

Tsukishima was my ex boyfriend. A sad relationship that only lasted a month. I was so **sure** we could’ve been something pretty amazing. Hell, we even agreed prior that we would keep in touch even during my college years and his last year of highschool! But throughout the entirety of the relationship, it seemed like I was the only one making any effort. I always invited him out, gave him cute nicknames, and initiated any contact. It didn’t really make any sense to me, since he was the one who asked me out in the first place. But the main problem I guess was that I was still very happy with being in a relationship like that. I just thought, _Maybe it’ll change sooner or later_ but I was clearly, very wrong. 

“ He’s just a friend!” I clarified.  _ Thank goodness I could just lie to them! _ “ And no, no I’m not,” My friends sighed and patted me comfortingly on the back. 

“ It’ll be ok,” the other said, “ These things take time. Oh wait! Our first class is starting, gotta go! Good luck MC!” Both of them rushed off to classes. 

“ Well, time to find mine!” I announced, and ran into campus. 

~15 minutes later~

I’m lost. Terribly, terribly lost. My phone ran out of battery, the campus map seems like it was written in a foreign language, and I’m even late for my first class. Even worse now…

“ How the hell did I get here?” I muttered. I was surrounded by trees.

“ Who are you?” said another person. I turned my head and saw a tall man with dark olive hair. His build seemed athletic and enormous, and he was wearing a tracksuit. He looked like he was out for a jog before he bumped into me. 

“ Uh, uh,” I stuttered, looking at the intimidating giant, “ MY NAME IS MC! I’M A FRESHMAN AT THIS SCHOOL! I GOT LOST AND IT’S MY FIRST DAY AND I’M CONFUSED, JUST PLEASE DON’T KIDNAP ME OR SOMETHING!” I bowed profusely.  _ Kidnap? That was so rude of me! _ The titan only cocked his head slightly. 

“ Kidnap? Why would I kidnap someone like you?” That jabbed me in the heart. Hard. “ Hello, I’m Ushijima Wakatoshi. I also attend this school, just in the sports division. If you are lost, I will lead you back to where you’re supposed to go. Follow me,” He started jogging off in a random direction. “ And I am not going to kidnap you,”  _ He’s… very nice _ , I started following him. “ Where to?”

~5 Minutes Later~

“ W-we,” I gasped, “ Made it!” I collapsed on a bench, heaving for air. Ushijima simply stood by and watched. “ H-how the hell do you still have so much energy?” I joked.

“ Well, I have bigger legs then you. Also, you are weaker than me,” he answered bluntly.  _ This guy pulls no punches! _

“ Fair enough,” I chuckled, standing up. “ I have to go to class. Thank you Ushijima-san!” I jogged into my class. 

__________________________________________________________________________

~That Night in The Apartment~

“ So about that whole grandma thing~” I started through Oikawa’s door. “ She’s uhhh…. Visiting today,” 

“ FROM THE HOSPITAL?” he gasped, snapping the door open. 

“ YEAH, SO WE’LL HAVE TO PRETEND TO BE A COUPLE AGAIN,” I said, hands pressed together in a plea. 

“ I THOUGHT WE WERE COMING CLEAN TO THEM!” Oikawa admonished. 

“ Oh really? Have you told your grandmother the truth yet?” I asked, crossing my arms. 

“ ...no,” he admitted, “ Anyway, this is way too personal for a Rental Boyfriend! Just tell her we broke up!” 

“ YOU AND I BOTH KNOW IT’S NOT THAT SIMP-” I was cut off by the buzzing of my phone. I picked it up cautiously. “ Hey Granny,” 

“ Hello MC! I’m coming over to your apartment! Did you invite Oikawa?” she asked. 

“ Yes, and he said no. He’s a bit too busy today Granny,” I apologized. “ See you soon!” 

~Grandma’s visit~

No One’s POV

“ Dang MC, you have to clean up a bit here!” scolded MC’s grandmother as she walked into the apartment. “ It’s like a pigsty!” 

“ Sorry Granny,” replied MC, drooping a bit.  _ But I did have to speed clean a bit before you came here, I can’t imagine what her reaction would’ve been if she saw my room before _ … “ I bought some takeout for us to eat together,” The two conversed for around an hour until the elephant in the room arose.

“ Why isn’t Oikawa coming?” asked Grandma. MC froze for a moment, her mind scrambling for excuses and alibis until it came to one conclusion.  _ I have to tell the truth… but I can’t. I don’t want to crush her dreams... _

“ He’s a bit busy, ya know! College is tough!” MC said with a sheepish grin. The old woman was silent for a moment. 

“ He… broke up with you didn’t he?” she said. “ You’ve been spewing anxiety since I stepped in this place. And when I even mentioned Oikawa, your body froze up. Most of your life, you haven’t been the most charming young lady. There were even times when I wondered if you swung the other way! One day, you’ll find an amazing boy who loves you back just as much as you love him my dear- ” The door suddenly swung open to Oikawa leaning on the doorway, a bouquet of roses in his hand.

“ Sorry that I’m late dear,” he announced. “ I just didn’t know which kind of flowers your grandmother would like, so I played it safe,” 

“ OIKAWA~” the old woman cried, and rushed forward to hold his hands. “ WHAT THE HELL MC?”   


“ I thought he wouldn’t be able to make it!” defended MC.

__________________________________________________________________________

“ Why…. Did you come back?” asked MC leaning against her balcony after her grandmother returned to the hospital. 

“ Isn’t it every Rental Boyfriend’s job to make every girl happy? I’m such a good guy am I right?” Oikawa smiled, slicking back his hair. His explanation was only met by a glare of skepticism. “ Ok ok, I did it for our grandmas alright? My grandma really likes you and your grandma likes me too. Not only that, but we’re both too cowardly to tell them the truth.”

“ Listen, I visit my grandmother in the hospital every Wednesday,” explained MC, “ Maybe I can rent you out for two hours every week on that Wednesday. Fair?” Oikawa nodded in agreement. 

“ The contract is settled then!” he announced, “ Two hours worth of payment per week! Plus three boxes of milk bread! And in return we’ll pretend to date, for our grandmothers!” 

“ Yeah! For Grandma!” cheered MC, “ Wait, what did you say about the milk bread?”

  
  


~Following Wednesday~

Tsukishima’s POV

“ Damn, being in the hospital is such a pain,” I sighed in the hallway. Lately, my hand has been feeling a bit sore. “ Volleyball, and it’s blocks” I cursed. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice in a hospital room. MC?

“ Grandma, you can’t discharge yourself!” she scolded. 

“ I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT TO!” an older, raspier voice declared. Out of curiosity, I peered into the room for a quick glance. 

“ Come now Grandma, if you come out of the hospital unhealthy we’ll all be pretty sad,” another familiar voice said.  _ No way… Oikawa? _

“ You have such an understanding boyfriend, MC!” cooed an older woman. I immediately ran out of the perimeter of the area and sat on a hospital bench. 

  
“ She…. has a boyfriend now huh?” I muttered to myself.  _ What the hell? Why do I feel this way? It’s none of my business dammit….. None of my…. None of my…. _ Sudden images flash through my head of our short relationship. “ Am I… jealous?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit Tsuki knows now. Thanks for reading! Comments and suggestions would be pretty damn nice!


	3. The Classmate and the Study Group!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As MC continues her campus life, her friend introduces her to a new friend and a familiar face! On the way home, she bumps into Tsukishima who knows her secret. We also learn a little more about her past now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DON'T OWN HAIKYUU OR RENT A GIRLFRIEND! Enjoy! Btw, this is what their apartment building looks like. https://wherever-i-look.com/tv-series/anime/rent-a-girlfriend-season-1-episode-12-season-finale-confession-and-girlfriend-recap-review-with-spoilers. It's literally just the apartment building from Rent-A-Girlfriend lol.

MC POV

  
  


_ “ SHIT I’M GOING TO BE LATE!” I cried, running to the cafe where I promised to meet him. I opened the door, looking around frantically for Tsukishima. He already took a seat at a nearby table. Not only that, but he was munching on some strawberry shortcake while looking at me with a smirk. I sighed in defeat and crashed on the chair across from him.  _

_ “ Well lookie here,” he teased, “ It appears that my loving girlfriend is running late whatever shall I do?”  _

_ “ Tsukishima, I’m right here!” I retorted with a blush. It was embarrassing enough that I was late for our first date, now he’s pretending that I’m invisible! In public! _

_ “ It’s such a shame though~” he continued, pretending not to hear me, “ I was kind of looking forward to this. I guess I’ll just leave~” He stood up and started to walk to the exit until I stopped him by holding his hand.  _

_ “ Sorry Tsukishima,” I muttered. He simply chuckled and put his hand in his pocket.  _

_ “ Come on, let’s go,”  _

______________________

I woke up abruptly in my bed. My alarm was blaring next to my bed.

“ Dammit, that dream again?” I muttered, dragging myself out of bed. I’ve been having the same dream of Tsukishima and my first date for the past few weeks ever since he dumped me. “ Guess I’m not as over him as I thought,” I murmured. I turned on some music and took a short shower. Afterwards, I opened my door and was greeted by a beautiful early spring morning. I checked my phone for the time.  _ 7:00. My first class starts in an hour or so…. I should eat breakfast quickly then _ . Grabbing my breakfast and umbrella, I walked to campus quietly. I then heard rhythmical footsteps from behind me. I turned around to see Ushijima jogging. “ Ah, Ushijima!” I greeted him happily. He slowed down a bit to nod at me in greeting.  _ I forgot he wasn’t much of a talker _ . I continued walking to campus at a slow, but steady rate.

~During School~

“ Hey MC! You’re a good tutor right?” my friend, Mia, suddenly asked. I raised my eyebrow in response.

“ Dude, I managed to teach you in highschool. I think I’m a pretty god-tier level tutor,” I replied. That wasn’t even a joke. Mia was a very spunky, out-going girl. However, she didn’t do too well in the academics department. It isn’t like she isn’t smart, she’s hella observant when it comes to social situations, it’s just that she got bored with the material easily and stopped paying attention. Not only that, but she tends to be forgetful. 

“ Great great….” she muttered. 

“ You want me to tutor you again don’t you?” Mia nodded profusely and clapped her hands together and bowed her head. 

“ PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!” she begged. 

“ Why don’t you ask the actual tutors in this school?” I ask, hands on my hips. 

“ THEY ALL GAVE UP ON ME!” she sobbed.

“ HOW?” I shouted in response, “ IT’S THE BEGINNING OF THE FRIGGIN YEAR!”

“ I DON’T KNOW!” she cried. I hesitated for a moment. “ Ughhhhhhhhh,” I shouted in frustration. “ FINE! EVERY MONDAY FROM 6:00 PM TO 8:30!” Mia leapt at my side in a bone-crushing hug. 

“ THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” she sobbed. I patted her back in an attempt to be soothing. “ But can I bring a friend of mine? He’s just as hopeless as I am,” I hesitated for a moment. Mia bringing a friend? That seemed like a recipe for a disaster. “ HE CAN MAKE GREAT CHOCOLATE!”  _ DAMMIT SHE KNOWS MY WEAKNESS! COME ON MC YOU’RE STRONGER THAN CHOCOLATE- _

“ He can come,” I said immediately. She smiled happily and skipped off. “ I’m too friggin weak,” I muttered to myself.

~Tutoring Session~

“ Out of all the places…” I said, “ You chose here? A CAFE?” Mia winced sheepishly. 

“ I have a coupon that lasts a few days here,” she muttered. “ I also wanted to try this place’s parfait so…” I glared at her demeaningly. 

“ Mia… I thought we were here to study,” I drawled. I wasn’t actually mad at her. I was just worried that my weakness for food would distract me from studying as well. Mia gave me her puppy eyes.

“ B-But MC… My friend and his friend are already here,” she whimpered, “ It would be too much of a fuss to ask them to just get up and leave,” 

“ Fine,” I sighed in defeat. We both entered the cafe. It had an airy, cozy, and bright feeling to it. “ Now where’s this friend of yours?” Mia looked around frantically.

“ Tendou!” greeted Mia, rushing towards a table. I turned my head to see a lanky young man with spiky red hair and another familiar figure. 

“ Hello Mia! Is this our savior?” asked the boy. 

“ Ushijima-san?” I recognized. 

“ Oh, MC. Nice to see you again,” he responded. He was right next to Mia’s newfound friend. 

“ Mia, you never told me that our tutor knows my bff,” said Tendou, surprised. Before we started studying, we had some small talk. 

“ So what do you guys study? What do you have trouble with?” I asked. 

“ Well, I used to be a liberal arts major but I moved on to culinary!” explained Tendou. “ Mia and I have trouble mainly in math,” I nodded. Math was Mia’s weakest point in highschool. 

“ Ok, what about you Ushijima-san?” I turned to the muscular male. 

“ I do sports,” he said bluntly. “ I’m having problems with reading comprehension,” I nodded.  _ He did mention that when we first met. _

~Studying Session~

“ Ohhh so that’s how you do it!” Tendou smiled, “ Thanks MC!” 

“ Did I or did I not tell you that she was a life-savior?” grinned Mia. I smiled with pride. Mia may be an idiot, but her results after tutoring show that she actually was learning and improving. 

“ So are you in education?” asked Tendou. I shook my head. 

“ Nope! I’m studying marine science! I personally think that plants and animals are a tad better than people after all!” I joked, “ I also used to swim a lot, so I click with water a bit better!” Ushijima raised his eyebrow. 

“ She was one of the best swimmers back in first year of highschool!” Mia stated proudly. 

“ But you had so much trouble keeping up with me,” Ushijima said. “ When you got lost, you got out of breathe,” 

“ I said used to! Also, I was tired at the time!” I responded sheepishly, “ I quit because I just got bored. Not only that, I stopped exercising after that. I’m not as strong or fast anymore,” Ushijima nodded in response and turned to his school work, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“ Do you need any help?” I asked him. He nodded again. “ Ok, what seems to be the problem?”

“ I don’t understand the speaker’s words,” he replied. I read through the text a few times and nodded. 

“ Yeah.. this piece does seem a bit complicated at first,” I agreed, “ However, this liner shows the protagonist loves his love interest but never told them.  _ ‘I love thee, though I told thee not’ _ . That part’s kinda obvious right? But it continues with  _ ‘  _ _ Thou wert my joy in every spot, My theme in every song.’  _ What do you think this part means?” Ushijima looked deep in thought before answering. 

“ This line means that…. Even after she went away…. She still was his inspiration?” I nodded in agreement. 

“ Yup! That’s it! But look a few lines ahead.  _ ‘  _ _ And all the charms of face or voice. Which I in others see. Are but the recollected choice. Of what I felt for thee,’. _

“ That… the speaker remembers his love through other people?” I nodded again. “ So he’s doomed to reflect his love to other people… since he never got to show his love for her?” 

“ Bingo!” I responded with a grin. “ Actually, saying it too cheerfully seems a bit weird. Since this poem is really sad right?” Ushijima shook his head. 

“ I think it’s ok to celebrate one’s growth,” he responded. “ Also, your smile is quite nice. I like it on your face,” I blushed a bit at his compliment.  _ Awkward… but sweet _ .

“ Thank you!” I replied, blush (hopefully not) prominent on my face. Ushijima turned back to his material and sighed. 

“ I still don’t understand why analyzing poems is necessary though,” 

“ Amen to that brother,” muttered Mia. 

“ Yeah, but sometimes when we read literature it can reflect and sometimes help us comprehend our own problems and troubles in life you know?” I sighed. “ But I agree with you. I get sick of the questions like: what do muffins represent in The Titanic and stuff,” I laughed at my own joke. Ushijima nodded and chuckled a bit. My smile grew a bit wider.

“ Hey, I made you laugh!”

“ Oh, is it bad?” he asked curiously. 

“ Nope. Your smile is quite nice,” I teased, “ I like it on your face,” 

~End of Tutoring~

“ Bye MC!” I heard Mia say as we parted ways. I waved back frantically, grinning. _Everybody made great progress today!_ I walked to my apartment in a happy mood. I stopped in front of a bakery. _Oikawa… likes milk bread right?_ I entered the store and bought a few bundles, some for myself and some for Oikawa himself. _Ok, I’ll just say that it’s thanks for putting up with my grandma stuff, nothing more nothing less!_ _You got this! Just don’t look into those gorgeous brown eyes..._

“ Dang it, I’m getting carried away!” I slapped my face several times.  _ He’s a rental boyfriend! A relationship that won’t last! _ I reminded myself. In my self-scolding, I bumped into a taller figure. “ Oops! Sorry about the trouble-” I apologized. My words were cut off by a familiar face, and an even more familiar smirk. 

~Tsukishima POV~

“ No problem,” I replied, looking down on her. She was fiddling with a bag of… milk bread?  _ Isn’t that Oikawa’s favorite food or whatever? _ I internally recoiled in disgust. Dammit, I shouldn’t care. I was the one who broke up with her after all. Her life is her life, and my life is mine...

“ T-Tsukishima!” she stuttered, with a shade of pink staining her cheeks. She looks so cute when she does that. I leaned down a bit, a smile still wide on my face. 

“ Well well well, who’s that for?” I teased, trying to drag the truth out of her.

“ Uh, a friend! A little for myself of course!” she replied sheepishly, blush still on her face. I raised my eyebrow a bit.  _ She isn’t revealing anything hm?  _

“ Let’s sit over there,” I said, pointing to a bench. We sat down and conversed for a little while. I could hear my heart beating steadily in my chest.  _ Dammit, am I not over her? _ I internally cursed. 

“ -but that’s college life for ya!” she sighed. “ How’s volleyball?” I snapped out of my thoughts. 

“ It’s fine. Still extremely tiring though,” I complained, leaning back on the bench. “But we have a serious shot at nationals this year,” She chuckled a bit. 

“ Really? That’s great Tsukishima! I’m sure Yamaguchi is leading the team splendidly!” She kept on talking about Yamaguchi and how sweet he was until my curiosity got the better of me. 

“ Are you dating Oikawa?” I asked very calmly. MC choked in response. 

“ W-what makes you think that?” MC coughed.  _ She didn’t deny it _ . 

“ Well, I was at the hospital and I overheard your grandmother saying how thoughtful of a boyfriend Oikawa was,” I answered. Her expression looked defeated and… panicked?   


“ What else did you hear?” she stuttered. 

“ Huh? Nothing else,” I responded, “ But you didn’t answer the question. But judging from your response, I can tell that you are dating him,” 

“ Well uhh… Yeah…” MC sighed, “ I’m sorry! It’s not that I didn’t value our relationship it’s just-” 

“ It’s whatever,” I cut her off, standing up. “ Who am I to judge your life?” Saying it outloud makes my chest clench even more. “ Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret,” I waved goodbye while walking away. “ Have fun at college,”  _ Dammit dammit, now’s not the time to get emotional _ , I internally cursed.  _ It’s just the jealousy in me, if I still actually liked her we would still be together… _ I deduced.  _ A relationship wouldn’t be good now…. Right? _

~MC POV~

“ He knows….” I muttered to myself in horror.  _ Should I tell him it’s a rental relationship? _ I pondered. “ Definitely not…” I murmured, continuing the walk home. As cowardly as it may seem, I was too scared to tell that. It would be way too embarrassing, and I was terrified of Tsukishima’s reaction. When I reached my door, I also saw Oikawa there holding a medical kit. 

“ Oh Ms. Stalker!” he chirped, holding the kit behind him. My eyebrows furrowed immediately at the stupid nickname. 

“ Why are you hiding that first-aid kit?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I grabbed his wrist and revealed the kit. 

“ I just got into a little accident in practice! My knee got a little sprained ya know, it happens all the time in sports!” he fumbled. My eyes trailed down to his knee, wrapped in white cloth.  _ Dammit, I recognize that sort of injury…  _ Flashes from my swimming days blared through my mind like a slideshow. “Now if you excuse me-” He tried to go back into the apartment. I gripped his wrist tighter. 

“ As an ex-athlete…” I said, surprising Oikawa. “ I recognize that injury. And I can safely say that it isn’t just a sprain,” I forcibly made him sit down next to his door. 

“ Wow MC, so sudden!” Oikawa teased, “ Are you sure you aren’t actually falling for-” I glared at him. Oikawa whimpered like a puppy and stopped talking. I looked at his brace a little more.  _ It reminds me too much of back then… It reminds me too much of  _ **_her_ ** **.**

“ Oikawa…” I growled warningly, “ How much do you practice now?” Sweat seem to drip from him in waterfalls. 

“ Wow MC you really sound like my friend, Iwa-chan! Maybe you two should date instead of-”

“ Oikawa…” 

“ Ok fine! I practice a lot. I won’t specify how much, but I practice a lot ok?” he answered frantically. I sighed in defeat. 

“ Stay here, and eat this,” I gave him the milk bread I intended for him as a gift. I rushed into my apartment to get him a pack of ice. I pressed it against his knee at once, my hand shaking slightly from panic. More flashes from my past came back. A girl shrieking in pain, a medic...

“ Hey that isn’t really necessary now ya know… It really isn’t acting up..” Oikawa murmured softly. I immediately calmed down and stopped pressing the pack to his knee. 

“ O-oh… I guess I overreacted a bit…” I confessed, slipping next to him. We sat in silence for a little until Oikawa pulled out two packages of milk bread and opened one of them. He handed the other package to me. “ Out of curiosity, what sport do you play?” I asked. Oikawa perked up a bit. 

“ Volleyball,” he responded. I sensed a bit of pride in his voice. “ What about you? What were you an ex-athlete of?”

“ Swimming,” I answered. “ What’s your position?” I knew a bit about volleyball, from some explanation from Tsukishima of course. But the rules were still a bit lost to me. 

“ Setter,” Oikawa answered happily, munching on the milk bread. 

“ Wait, isn’t that the offense thing-a-ma-bob?” I realized. Oikawa spluttered on his milk bread. I’m not sure if it was from laughter or from shock. Oikawa choked on his milk bread for a while before answering. 

“ Y-yeah,” he wheezed, “ You can call it that,” I chuckled a bit. “ How much would you eat as an ex-swimmer?” 

“ Oh, entire feasts,” I answered with a grin, “ I would eat three bowls of ramen and still be hungry,” Oikawa laughed heartily at that. We complained about stupid questions and comments about our sports that people would say. The playful banter continued until the sun set completely. 

“ Why did you quit swimming? You sound like you loved it a lot. Also… how did you recognize my injury?” asked Oikawa softly, looking down. I stiffened a bit. 

“ I just got bored of it. I guess. And as for your injury, I saw someone have it,” I replied. Oikawa fell silent for a little, as if sensing my discomfort. “ We should get inside, it’s getting late,” I stood up and offered my hand to him. Oikawa chuckled and took it. 

“ Thank you, Ms.Stalker,” 

“ Quit calling me that!” I laughed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For y'all nerds who want to know the name of the poem I used, it's called "The Secret" by John Clare. Is it foreshadowing? P e r h a p s. Also, what's with all these flashes of the past? Please comment any concerns or suggestions!


	4. The Rental Boyfriend and the Beach!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MC goes on vacation with her favorite girls! She sees Oikawa once more on the beach, but the two manage to excuse themselves somehow. After one hell of an experience, MC reveals why she actually quit swimming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm bad a summarizing. Please enjoy the read

MC POV

I woke up in a cold sweat.  _ DAMMIT! THAT DREAM AGAIN? _ , I internally cursed. My first date with Tsukishima was still playing in my dreams on loop. Why are feelings so tough? Why do I still like him so much? 

“ WHAT DID I DO IN MY LAST LIFE GOD?” I shouted at the sky, waving my fist at it. Somebody coughed. I looked down to see Ushijima in a tracksuit.  _ Dammit, he must be out for a jog! Did he hear what I said? _ I panicked. After a few moments of silence, I waved at him in an attempt to salvage what little dignity I had left, “ Good morning Ushijima! How are you?”

“ Good Morning MC, my morning was just fine. But it appears yours isn’t. Would you like to talk about it?” he greeted in return. I hesitated for a little bit, then nodded. It would be weird if he just saw that without explanation. I gestured to the steps leading up to my apartment. He simply nodded in return and jogged around the corner. I scrambled out of my bed, put on a sweatshirt, and waited for Ushijima outside my door. When he got there, I gestured to him to sit in front of my door with me. 

“ So, what happened? You seemed distressed,” he asked bluntly. I chuckled at his blatant concern. Sure, the guy was a bit rough around the edges and was pretty bad at identifying emotions but he was very sweet underneath that. Like a cookie. Ushicookie.  _ Wait I didn’t think this through properly _ , I realized. I really, REALLY don’t want to tell Ushijima about my old relationship and how I still am not over my ex. 

“ I had a dream,” I admitted. Ushijima nodded. 

“ I understand. Bad dreams can be scary,” he said. I shook my head. 

“ But the thing is… My dream wasn’t bad. It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t sad, it didn’t make me angry. In fact, the dream was more of a memory. A very, very, nice memory,” I confessed softly. “ But when I wake up…” 

“ -You realize you can’t have those sort of memories anymore,” finished Ushijima with a knowing glare. I stared at him in shock. “ I am familiar with it. Although it happened a long, long time ago. When I was a child. My mother separated from my father, and I missed having a full family,” My shock increased a little, but was replaced by somberness. 

“ Ushijima, I’m sorry,” I apologized, resting my hand against his shoulder in an attempt to be comforting. It was soothing, to have someone that understood how it felt to feel like this. He shook his head. 

“ It’s fine. I got over it a very long time ago,” he responded. “ I apologize for making you feel worse,” He looked down at his hands, frowning a bit. I laughed a little. 

“ No, no! You actually made me feel a little better,” I comforted, “ Thanks for talking to me Ushijima,” I smiled at him softly. He simply returned it with a nod, then rose up. 

“ I should continue jogging,” he stated. I looked outside, it was gray and there were clouds everywhere. 

“ Wait for a minute Ushijima!” I exclaimed, opening my door. I rummaged through my closet.  _ Where is it, where is it… Found it!  _ I pulled out a light pink umbrella (if you don’t like pink, you can do something else like patterns or whatever). I walked back outside where Ushijima was waiting and held out the umbrella with a grin. “ It looks like it’s about to rain out there! We don’t want you catching a cold do we?” Ushijima took the umbrella. 

“ Thank you,” he said. He turned around and jogged off, umbrella in hand. 

_______________________

“Bump it bump it!” shrieked Mia at Kamiko. Kamiko stumbled towards the volleyball in an attempt to save it from bumping into the sand, but failed miserably. The warm sun beat down on my friends and I as we attempted to play beach volleyball. 

“ What happened Ms. ‘This shouldn’t be too hard’ ?” I teased playfully. Kamiko glowered at me in response, but then bursted out laughing.  _ Damn, a hot early spring day? The world’s doomed to global warming! _ I thought to myself as I prepared to serve. My brain immediately flashed to Oikawa.  _ Doesn’t he play volleyball? _ I remembered, before shaking my head profusely.  _ Focus MC focus! _ I scolded myself internally. This was supposed to be my mini-vacation with the girls!

“ Can we rest for a little?” asked Mia. “ I want food~” Kamiko nodded in agreement and sat on the beach chairs we set up. 

“ Ok, you guys can stay there while I get us some shaved ice,” I placed the ball down and started walking towards the food bar. 

“ Give me some grilled fish on a stick too!” Mia called, waving me goodbye. 

“ I’M NOT YOUR SERVANT!” I yelled, turning my head back at her. I glowered a little before calming down.  _ But I’m going to get it anyway because of course I will… _ Why is my willpower so friggin weak sometimes?

~Food Time~

“ Dammit, it’s way too hard to balance this much food in my hands…” I muttered. “ I should not have ordered two jumbo-sized shaved ices and two grilled fish-” I bumped into a muscular boy and nearly dropped all the food. 

“ Hey, are you all right?” He asked politely. 

“ Oh yeah I’m fine-”  _ HANDSOME MAN! _ Blared my brain and lady parts.  _ HANDSOME, HANDSOME, HANDSOME MAN! JESUS, I COULD GRATE STONE ON THOSE ABS I WANT TO LICK THEM-  _ “ Perfectly fine,” I managed to choke out. I struggled with the food in my hands for a little longer until the man took one bowl of shaved ice and grilled fish from me. 

“ So where’re you going? I can help you carry this stuff on the way,” he offered. I pointed at the direction where my friends and I set up our little spot. “ Oh, I’m Iwaizumi Hajime by the way,” 

“ I’m MC, very nice to meet you!” I introduced. “ But aren’t you carrying stuff too?” I gestured to a plastic bag that he was holding. 

“ It’s fine, just some beer. My friend has shit tolerance so I got only a few cans,” 

“ Smart decision,” I chuckled. We then had a peaceful walk towards where my friends were supposed to be, until I heard a giggling Mia and a familiar voice.

“ Oh no,” Iwaizumi and I said simultaneously. We walked a little closer and found Oikawa flirting with my friends.

“ Oh gee thanks ladies, and you’re all right! I work out a lot,” chuckled Oikawa. I could practically see the hearts in Mia and Kamiko’s irises.  _ Damn flirt!  _ I thought, mildly frustrated. Iwaizumi, however, seemed a lot more used to (and fed up with) Oikawa’s behavior. He had a dangerous aura around him to the point where I could practically feel the murderous rage radiating from him. He put down the food, grabbed the ball, and hurled it directly at Oikawa’s head. 

“ So I was planning on taking a nighttime stroll and I’m wondering if either of you ladies would-” he started, before taking a direct hit from the ball. 

“ You’ll be walking alone Oikawa,” I said coldly as he writhed in pain on the sand. Did that weirdo follow me to the beach or something? What’s with all of these coincidences?

“ O-OIKAWA-SAN?” screamed Kamiko in worry, bending down to check the brunette. 

“ DAMMIT SHITTYKAWA,” shouted Iwaizumi. “ YOU AREN’T RUINING THIS VACATION WITH NEW FLINGS YOU HEAR ME?” Oikawa only weakly nodded in response. Well, he nodded as well as a person face down in the sand could. 

“ Wait, you know him?” I asked Iwaizumi. He sighed in seemingly immense pain. 

“ Yeah, he’s my childhood friend. Me, him, and two other buddies of mine are supposed to be having a get-together here,” Iwaizumi explained. “ But this piece of trash can’t help but flirt with a bunch of girls!” Iwaizumi stared at Oikawa demeaningly while Oikawa simply sighed and got up. 

“ Wait, isn’t that the guy you were hanging out with before? Ya know, at the aquarium?” asked Mia. Oikawa and I immediately froze. In the span of two seconds, he sent me the message of: “OTHER PEOPLE KNOW, HOLY SHIT DO THEY KNOW MY PROFESSION TOO? WHAT STORY DID YOU FEED THEM? WHAT WILL WE DO IF THEY THINK WE’RE ACTUALLY DATING?”

“ Huh, so you two know each other?” asked Iwaizumi, his head cocking in curiosity. 

“ Oh yeah. Our grandmas are friends so we became friends too,” I lied. Thankfully for my conscience, that lie was half-true. Oikawa nodded in confirmation. 

“ Yeah, our grannies are total besties!” he confirmed.  _ STOP OVERSELLING THE LIE YOU IDIOT!  _ I panicked internally. “ Anyway, Iwa-chan and I should go back to the guys. Have a good one!” Oikawa stood up and brushed the sand off his swimsuit. I silently thanked him for leaving earlier to avoid any more questions. 

“ Thanks for helping Iwaizumi,” I said. 

“ Anytime. I’m happy Oikawa has a person with a decent head on their shoulders to look after him while I’m gone,” Iwaizumi grinned. 

“ I’m not a child Iwa-chan!” Oikawa muttered, walking away.

“ Then why do you sometimes act like one?” Iwaizumi retorted, picking up his bag of beer and walking away. “ It was nice to meet you MC,” 

“ Nice to meet you too!” I waved at Iwaizumi. While Oikawa was walking, I noticed the slightest limp on one of his legs. My eyebrows furrowed with worry.  _ Is his knee acting up today? _ I wondered. I’m probably going to ask him later though, nothing too bad can happen during his vacation. Once they were out of earshot, I could feel Mia and Kamiko’s glare on my back. “ What is it you two?” I asked. I turned around to see two extremely livid ladies. 

“ Why did you stop him?” growled Mia. “ AND WHO IS HE TO YOU? ACTUALLY?” Kamiko nodded profusely in agreement. Flustered, I held my hands up. 

“ N-NOTHING! I’M SERIOUS!” I replied. My heated face, however, didn’t really convince them of anything. “ ALSO, HE’S A BIG WEIRDO! NONE OF YOU WOULD WANT TO TOUCH THAT!” Dammit come to think of it, why the hell did I help Iwaizumi stop him? Who he flirts with is none of my business! Even if I am jealous, I literally feel only physical attraction to him. 

“ I smell lies,” accused Kamiko, jabbing her petite finger into my chest. Her small frame was usually adorable, but sometimes she could be truly intimidating if she wanted to be. 

“ Wait no, MC has a point,” Mia says. I look at her, my eyes shining in relief. She believes me! Thank goodness. I definitely didn’t expect Mia to be the voice of reason! “She might have a thing for one of the guys in our study group,” I choked on my spit. 

“ TENDOU?” I screamed in shock. Tendou was a really nice guy but it was hard imagining him in a romantic sense. Mia wacked my head with her hand. 

“ NO! Ushi-daddy! The one with the biceps of a greek god!” she exclaimed. I blushed even harder at the nickname she gave her.  _ USHI-DADDY? _ I screamed internally. Then again she did have a point. Ushijima’s sex appeal was undeniable to anybody, male or female. 

“ N-NO!” I replied, shocked. “ Guys, I’m serious. I’m barely over Tsukishima. I’m definitely not looking for a relationship just yet,” They looked at each other, then at me warily. 

“ S-sorry MC,” apologized Kamiko. “ We should’ve thought about your past relationship a little bit more,” They both gave me a tight, loving hug. I hesitated for a little, then hugged them back. 

“ Come on guys, we have a ferry to catch!” I cheered, waving three tickets in front of them. They screamed in excitement in response. They ran to pack up our beach bags. I turned my attention to our snacks. “ Guys….”, I growled. They both froze in terror. “ WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GUYS PUT MY SNACKS? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SHAVED ICE?” I turned my head to glare at them again, but they already ran off. “ YOU IDIOTS WON’T GET AWAY THIS TIME!” I shrieked, chasing after them. 

~ At The Ferry ~

Oikawa’s POV

“ Shit,” I cursed underneath my breath. I hid a small grimace of pain that was threatening to surface. I glared at my knee, as if it would stop hurting if I did. The entire day it was acting up for some reason. 

“ Shittykawa, I swear if you’re still not taking care of that knee, you will be seeing God tonight,” Iwaizumi threatened. I tensed up immediately. I know he only says these things out of concern, but damn did his hits genuinely hurt. 

“ I really can’t hide anything from you, can I, Iwa Chan?” I chuckled. My best friend simply puffed out his chest in pride. As expected of my childhood friend. He could always read me like an open book. But it’s surprising, knowing that reading would probably be a hard task for him.  _ I can’t say that outloud though… he’ll beat me to a pulp _ , I sweatdropped. 

“ Of course not you idiot,” he snapped. “ So how are you plans with Argentina?” Ah yes, Argentina. The entire reason I’m even a rental boyfriend. Even with the small boost from my parents and sister, I still have ways to go before I can save up enough money to go there. 

“ Still have ways to go,” I sighed, “ But I think a few months would do it,” Iwaizumi simply nodded his head. The boat rocked suddenly. I clutched the railing tightly for support. 

“ DAMMIT! SOMEONE’S GOING TO FALL OFF THE DAMN BOAT AT THIS RATE!” cursed Iwaizumi, grabbing on to the railing. I nodded profusely in agreement. Matsukawa ran up to us. 

“ Uh, guys I think the combination of beer and this ship is destroying Hanamaki’s stomach,” he said, pointing to our pink-haired friend. His face was the shade of piss green, and he was clutching his stomach. 

“ Oh shit,” Iwaizumi muttered. “ We should go to the bathroom. Stay here, Shittykawa. Both of us know you’ll end up looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror more than actually help Hanamaki. Also, I don’t want you walking that much either, ” I stiffened at the insult. 

“ DAMMIT IWA-CHAN WHY DO YOU THINK SO LITTLE OF ME?!” I exclaimed, then pouted. Once the rest of my friends left, I could feel myself getting a bit light-headed as well.  _ Dammit, this just isn’t my day is it? _ I cursed. I leaned against the railing, enjoying the sunset. Suddenly, the boat jerked again. I could hold myself on, but I felt a sudden force on my back. Like I was being shoved. A scream pierced my ears.

Turning my head upwards I could see that my hand was reaching to the sky, reaching for the railing but failing. My head and back impacted the water. I couldn’t see anything but black. 

~MC POV~

While on the ferry, I saw Oikawa. Again. I looked frantically at my friends, checking to see if they noticed him or not. Thankfully, they didn’t and we continued to party for a little bit. I looked up to observe if he was still in the front deck, and I was correct. Except that he was alone, leaning against the railing.  _ Thank goodness they still aren’t noticing him _ , I thought to myself. If Mia and Kamiko saw Oikawa, they would probably berate him with more questions. Even though they hugged me before on the beach, they’re still questioning our relationship status. I sighed out loud. Why is this whole arrangement so complicated? My phone started to buzz in a familiar ringtone.  _ No Way… _ I thought to myself. Tsukishima’s calling? I picked up the phone. 

“ Hello?” I asked him. My heart was pounding in my chest like a drum so loudly, I was worried that even Tsukishima would hear it. 

“ Hi.. MC…. I have a few questions,” he started, “ It’s about our relationship-”. My heart sank and lifted at the same time. Did he want to start over? What was he going to ask? Maybe we could- A woman screamed above the deck. I whipped my head out to see a figure crashing into the bay. 

“ I BUMPED INTO A BOY AND HE FELL OVER!” she screamed. “ HE HAD CHESTNUT HAIR, AND WAS WEARING A WHITE JACKET AND A BLUE SWIM SUIT!” People on the ferry all gasped, and looked overboard, where the boy would be. 

There’s no questioning it. That was Oikawa.  _ His leg! His injury! His friends aren’t there to save him! _ As if in slow motion, I ran towards the water, dropping my phone and clothes along the way (Authors Note: She has a swimsuit underneath it you pervs), tied my hair in a tight updo, ( Authors Note: If you have short hair ignore this part) and dove after him. 

Once I hit the water, I could feel some pain in my knee and leg. Fear enveloped me like a glove.  _ DAMMIT, NOW’S NOT THE TIME TO BE A COWARD! _ I encouraged myself, ignoring the pain and swimming towards Oikawa. I reached for his hand and pulled him tight to my chest. Only in the water did I realize my horrible mistake. I didn’t train properly for a while, the only thing keeping us alive is my  **past** training and sheer adrenaline, and more importantly… The boat is probably far away from us. Paranoia grabbed my shoulder. Why did I do this? Why couldn’t I just wait for someone else? I’m not normally this reckless! WHY? WHY??? I shook my head profusely.  _ But I still have to keep us alive dammit! _ I looked at Oikawa. He was out cold. I tried to swim to the closest surface, but the current tossed us around. After hitting my head a few times and swallowing at least a few gallons of water, I think I layed Oikawa on a rocky island? I don’t know. Is he safe? Everything’s turning black. I can’t hear the waves. I can only feel the cool water on the lower half of my body. 

~Oikawa’s POV~

I woke up, coughing profusely.  _ Dammit, am I so useless that I can’t even swim?  _ I sat up, surveying my surroundings. I’m on a rocky mini-island, surrounded by water. The water looked like it was set ablaze by the sun. The sun must’ve still been setting.  _ So not a lot of time must’ve passed since I fell. Maybe an hour or so, _ I concluded. When I turned my head, I saw MC. The lower half of her body was still in the water, and her upper half was outstretched. As if she rolled me to shore. She looked like she was barely breathing. Did she… Save me?

“ You idiot!” I rasped, sitting up. I coughed out a few more mouthfuls of water. “YOU STUPID, STUPID IDIOT!” Why did she save me? Why couldn’t she wait for someone qualified to rescue me? I dragged her still body, so the entirety of her body was on land. I turned her on her back. “ Thirty chest compressions right?” I muttered, putting my hand over the other. I started pushing onto her chest frantically. “I’M NOT EVEN YOUR REAL BOYFRIEND YOU IDIOT! You shouldn’t risk your ass for mine!” I continued to pump desperately. My mind flashed back to where she looked scared at the prospect of swimming again, when she explained to me why she quit the sport. After thirty pumps, I looked at her face desperately. Her eyes were still shut and she still didn’t move. 

~MC’s POV~

Am I… dying? This is dying… right? Why the hell did I think that was a good idea? Life isn’t like action movies or anime… I’m so sorry Oikawa, if you’re still alive. Grandma, I’m sorry I couldn’t even introduce you to a nice guy who you would be proud to call your grandson in law. I’m so sorry everyone. My mind flips through all my memories. Most of them consisted of me and my family… me and my friends… A coward dying as a reckless idiot? How poetic. I suddenly felt lips lock on to mine and two breaths entering my throat. For some reason, that awakened something in me and my eyes snapped open. Suddenly I felt an unbelievable amount of pain in my chest. I hurled out what seemed to be a gallon of water, then coughed for God knows how long. Wheezing, I turned to see Oikawa. His eyes seemed a bit red, but filled with relief. I put my hands to my lips. 

“ Oikawa…. Did you just-” 

“ I’m sorry you had to save me!” he blurted, completely interrupting me. I stared at him in shock. How big is this man’s pride? Everyone needs help. Does this idiot think he’s to blame? Remembering the lip lock, I blushed furiously again. 

“ Uh… It’s fine! Also likewise….” My eyes trailed to his injured knee. “YOUR KNEE!” I shouted. New, but familiar, pain stung my knee at the sight of his knee. I crawled over and inspected it. “ I knew I should’ve said something dammit! If I hadn’t ignored your injury, none of this would’ve happened! Is it ok? Can you walk? Is it painful to bend?” After I frantically looked at his knee, I made eye contact with him. His mouth was slightly open in shock and was about to say something before a sharp whistle interrupted us. 

“ We’ve got them both!” a man on a raft said, “ Both are conscious! I repeat, both are conscious!” After that, the Coast Guards gave us a royal chewing out. Especially me. We were then sent to an ambulance where nurses were to check any potential injuries. Thankfully, I only had a small cut on my head with no concussions and a small cut on my arm. Sadly, the cut on my head would lead to a scar. The nurses checked Oikawa’s knee injury a little further, then confirmed that it wasn’t damaged worse. As we were waiting in the back of the ambulance, with blankets on our shoulders, Oikawa popped a question. 

“ I’m surprised they didn’t find anything wrong with your leg or knee,” he confessed, looking at them. “ You seemed to be bothered by it whenever you’re around me,” I clenched my hands around my blanket. How did he notice? Do I tell him a lie? I turned my head and made eye contact with him. His eyes gleamed with sincerity. No. I’m sick of lying. I heaved a huge sigh.

“ You know how I quit swimming because someone got injured? Someone I really looked up to?” I recalled. Oikawa nodded. My voice was still a raspy croak from all the water. “ I wanted to be just like her. She swam faster, harder, and longer than anyone else on the team. When I asked her what her secret was, she responded with ‘practice, practice, practice’. I thought she was the coolest person to ever walk the face of the planet, so I did exactly what she said. I practiced longer, harder, and more every single day. Just like she did. Sure I got the occasional cramps in my shoulders and legs, but I didn’t care. Because she got them too, and she was just fine. But one day, she had this huge injury on her knee or leg while she was swimming. It turned out that was the result of her overwork. I was there when I saw it. And I was scared,” I looked down at my hands in shame, “ Swimming was supposed to be normal after that right? Wrong. Every single time I swam faster than usual or was in the water for a long time, I would just feel the paranoia and fear set in. ‘What if I permanently injure myself somehow, like she did?’ I think to myself. The places where I had cramps seemed to start hurting more, and it was prominent in my knee and leg. The fear affected my real body. I started to get what I call, “pretend pain”. Pain that just comes from my mentality. My weak, weak mentality. To be honest, fear kept me from swimming. Not any sort of actual injury. Pathetic right? I was too much of a coward to keep on doing it so I just quit,” Little did I know, tears were seeping through my eyes and made a warm waterfall down my cheeks. Shame filled my entire chest as I looked down. Oikawa was silent for a little, then pulled my body against his in an embrace from the side. 

“ And yet you still saved me,” he whispered. My eyes widened in shock. He was right. I still chose to save him. Why? Why did I do it? Why didn’t fear stop me? I looked up at Oikawa, searching for answers in my mind. We were suddenly interrupted by furious pounding on the ambulance door. 

“ SHITTYKAWA I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! DON’T THINK I WON’T BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU FOR YOUR IDIOCY!” I heard a masculine voice scream. Oikawa froze in fear, then hid behind me. Was that Iwaizumi? I heard him shout before, but it was never this… I heard another flurry of knocks on the ambulance door. Terrifying. 

“ MC ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU ALIVE? PLEASE SAY YES!” I heard Kamiko sob outside the ambulance door.

“ I’m fine Kamiko,” I attempted to comfort. I suddenly see the doors forced open by a very, very, pissed off Iwaizumi. I could see the steam practically coming out of his ears. Oikawa and I screeched in fear at the raging Godzilla. 

“ DON’T KILL US PLEASE WE HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!” I begged, covering my eyes. Oikawa held me in front of him in a pathetic attempt to hide himself. 

“ YOU DON'T HURT THE SICK AND INJURED!” he screamed at the approaching monster. Iwaizumi lunged forward and hit Oikawa’s head. Hard. 

“ YOU DUMBASS!” he screamed as he clutched Oikawa’s jacket, pulling him towards him. I couldn’t bear to see Oikawa be potentially murdered, so I separated the two. 

“ Iwaizumi! It’s not his fault!” I defended, looking at the tall, tan young man. “ He just fell! I was the reckless one! Don’t be mad at him! Please!” I bowed towards him. Hopefully he would show an ounce of mercy towards me. 

“ I’m not mad MC,” he sighed. I looked up at his eyes. “ I just really worry about this idiot. But I can tell you know how that feels," He gestured towards my entire body. "You did save him after all. I’ll reiterate what I said to you before, I’m happy to see that someone’s looking out for him, ” His olive eyes swam with concern and anxiety and a hint of… happiness. “ However,” I felt a shiver down my spine. “ I TAKE BACK THE WHOLE “GOOD HEAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS” THING! THAT WAS EXTREMELY RECKLESS OF YOU AS WELL! SURE THIS WORKED OUT FOR YOU, BUT WHAT IF IT DIDN’T? BOTH OF YOU WOULD BE DEAD!” he scolded me. The angry hedgehog was shoved aside by a very worried Mia and a very, very, emotional Kamiko. 

“ I-I saw you dive down,” sniffed Kamiko, “ T-then I couldn’t see you in the water… Then I found out that you could’ve died and then and then…” Kamiko hiccups then buries her head into my chest, her snot and tears getting all over my swimsuit. Concerned, but slightly disgusted, I patted her head comfortingly. Mia looked at me judgmentally. 

“ To think that I thought you were the less reckless type in our group,” Mia sighed. She shook her head, then enveloped Kamiko and I into a warm hug. That’s our emotional pillar for you. Mia’s hyperactivity and cheerfulness balanced Kamiko’s waterworks and my paranoia. I sighed, content in the warmth. Meanwhile, I turned to look at Oikawa. He was still being scolded by Iwaizumi, but this time two other friends of his joined in. They weren’t really scolding him, they were teasing him. He made eye contact with me, then nodded his head. I nodded back, then sunk back into my friend’s warmth. 

~Drive Home~

Kamiko was asleep in the backseat while Mia drove all three of us back home. Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s group still had some vacation days left so I had to say goodbye. It was still sort of dark out. Quiet rock played on the radio while I looked out my window. The world looked so quiet. 

“ What made you save him?” Mia asked. I turned my head. Along with Oikawa, Kamiko, my parents, and Grandma, Mia knew the real reason why I quit swimming. “ You tend to be in pain whenever you were in the water for too long,” I kept on looking out the window, deep in thought. I scoured my mind for answers. 

“ The thing is. I was scared,” I confessed. “ The pain and fear set in before I reached him. Then, it disappeared,” I thought a little longer. “ I guess at that moment, I was more concerned for Oikawa than I was scared. And when I finally had him in my arms, fear became my strongest emotion again. I don’t think it’ll happen again. It was probably just the rush ya know?” Mia hummed in response. Her eyes were still on the road when she finally opened her mouth. 

“ Listen, I’m still not really sure what kind of relationship you and that guy have,” she admitted, “ And I know that you sure as hell aren’t over Tsukishima. But let me tell you this. You two have a little something more going on then you’re telling me. Now it may not be romantic. But there is something,” I weakly tried to respond, but I was shushed by Mia. “ You’ve had a long day,” Mia said. “ You should go to sleep,” As if my body finally realized it, my mind was clouded with fatigue. And I shut my eyes, my last thought being of the ocean and a pair of chestnut eyes. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Echoes: OH SHIT Oh Shit oh shit
> 
> Thanks for reading y'all! Please comment, or leave kudos if you can!


	5. The Ex-Boyfriend and the Tutor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima finds a way to bullshit his way out of the big conversation he meant to have with MC, which leads her to meet the most stupid students (Tutorettes? Tutorees?) that will challenge her capacity as a tutor. Oikawa and her have a heart to heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DON'T OWN RENT A GIRLFRIEND OR HAIKYUU! Enjoy reading!

Tsukishima’s POV

  
  


I put down my phone and crashed on my bed in defeat. What the actual hell happened? At first, I was talking to her just like usual and then somebody screamed? There was a crash and then she hung up? I sighed and put on my headphones, cranking the volume all the way up in an attempt to drown my thoughts. _So much for Yamaguchi’s advice_ , I thought to myself. He literally just told me to “go for it” because “What else could go wrong?” Apparently the universe really didn’t want me making that phone call. I groaned and looked at my phone. There’s no way in hell I can tell her. It took me a few weeks to build up the courage to ask her out in the first place, in fear that I would get rejected. Hell, the only reason why I asked her out was because another guy was flirting with her and I felt threatened by that. I yawned, then prepared myself for sleep. _Whatever…_ _I’ll take care of it tomorrow_. 

  
  


~At School~

“ T-this… is impossible,” cried Yachi, face-planting into the table. Hinata and Kageyama were difficult to tutor in freshman year, but that was nothing a bit of taunting wouldn’t fix.  _ Now…. they’re basically doomed.  _ I realized. Yachi, Yamaguchi, and I tried our hardest to tutor the duo but their stupidity overpowered us. Yamaguchi sat up. 

“ W-wait Tsukki, maybe MC could help-” he started. I gave him a glare that just screamed “Shut up before I make sure you never see the light of day again”.

“ Shut up Yamaguchi,” I said, turning to my work. Sadly, the tangerine and blueberry already heard him. Hinata turned to me, eyes glittering with hope. 

“ WHO’S MC? ARE THEY A SUPER-GENIUS?” asked Hinata, “ COULD THEY REALLY TEACH US?” Thousands of thoughts ran through my mind at once. Should I tell them to shut up? Degrade them? Wait… this is the perfect opportunity to say that asking MC to tutor us was the big thing I wanted to talk to her about. 

“ She’s not really a super genius persay…” I muttered, “ But she’s a really good tutor. She might even manage to help you two get a passing grade,” Yamaguchi perked up and smiled at me. Out of everyone, including my own brother, Yamaguchi was the only one who knew that I dated MC.

“ REALLY? CAN SHE COME AFTER SCHOOL?” babbled Hinata, excited. 

“ Slow down Shrimpy, I didn’t even ask her,” I sighed, whipping out my phone to check the time. Ignoring Hinata’s complaints and statements of how much taller he’s gotten, I got up from the table. “ Have to go home now, see you losers later,” I walked out of Coach Ukai’s store with Yamaguchi close on my tail. I turned to see my green-haired friend rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. 

“ Sorry Tsukki, I thought it would be a good idea to-” he started, but was cut off by my glare.

“ Whatever Yamaguchi,” I said. “ It’s not like I care or whatever,” 

~MC POV~   
  


I paced around my room, my phone on my mattress. I stopped pacing and glared at the intimidating lump of metal. Should I call him back? Should I wait? What was he going to ask me? My brain scrolled through dozens of possibilities. Does he never want to talk to me again? Does he just want to stay as friends? Does he want us to get back together? 

“ AHHHHHH” I screamed into my pillow. My phone vibrated. I looked at my screen, which had the dreaded name “Tsukki” on it. I took a deep breath, then answered the phone.

“ Hey,” he started, his rumbly voice warming my cheeks already.  _ Focus MC, FOCUS! _

“ Hi Tsukishima!” I chirped, trying to cover up my internal panic. “ Is this about the question you wanted to ask me?”  _ About our relationship _ I added in my mind. 

“ Uh, yeah,” he answered. My heart started racing.  _ Ok whatever he says, you just accept it and move on _ , my head whispered. My mind and heart were already preparing for heartbreak. Even if that actually happened, I could tell that no amount of preparation could help me. “ I was wondering if you could tutor my friends and I,” he finished. I paused for a few moments. That was it? It wasn’t a rejection, but didn’t he say this was about our relationship? 

“ Hmm, when are your friends free?” I asked slowly, recovering from the shock. I had the study group with Mia, Tendou, and Ushijima on Mondays already, and I have to visit Grandma on Wednesdays too. 

“ Whenever you want, I don’t really care,” answered Tsukishima nonchalantly. I paused for a few moments. I internally flipped through my mental calendar. Yeah, that’ll work. 

“ I can tutor you guys on Tuesday and Sunday,” I said. “ On Tuesdays it would be 6:15 to 9:15 which should give you guys plenty of time for your practice. On Sundays, 5:00-8:00 would be good. Is that ok with you guys?” 

“ Again, don’t really care,” replied Tsukishima, “ I’ll talk to them, goodnight,” I opened my mouth to say more, but it was already too late. He already hung up on me. I face planted into my blankets again.  _ At least that’s one step forward _ , I thought. I fluttered my eyes closed. 

~Monday Tutoring Time~

“ Alright we’re here!” cheered Mia as we stepped into the restaurant. I pinched her cheek while looking around, embarrassed. 

“ There are other people here too!” I hissed. I saw Tendou and Ushijima sitting in the same place and led her towards it. “ Hello you two! Sorry that we’re late,” I took off my jacket and sat across from Ushijima and Tendou. “ Let’s start studying!” Suddenly I felt two hands cup my cheeks and a slight pull. Ushijima observed my face carefully. Hell, I could feel his breath on my face!  _ NO!NONONONONONONONO! I AM NOT GETTING HORNY IN A RESTAURANT! _ I screamed at myself. 

“ What happened to your face?” he asked, lifting my bangs out of the way to reveal the huge bandage. I pulled back immediately.

“ I-it happened during vacation! I fell and uh-” I stuttered, still too flustered from Ushijima’s sudden contact. I tried to tell the story, but my mind was too scrambled. 

“ Let me explain,” sighed Mia. “ This dork saw some guy drowning and decided to try to save them even though she hasn’t worked out in YEARS. Now keep in mind that we’re in a BAY. With TIDES THAT COULD RIP HER IN HALF and the person she was trying to save was, I don’t know, BIGGER THAN HER. She got tossed around by the waves and ended up on a random rocky island. She and the guy both survived but not without being bruised up a bit,” I winced at every point that Mia made, but I deserved it. It was a stupid decision to save Oikawa. 

“ I see,” nodded Ushijima. “ That was admirable of you. But incredibly stupid,” His words felt like stabs. “ There were qualified people there that could’ve saved him. You were not qualified,” I winced again. 

“ But you’re forgetting about something Wakatoshi-kun,” chimed Tendou. “ What if that guy was super important to her?”

“ Huh? I do not understand,” Ushijima said, turning to his best friend. Tendou chuckled then put his fingers to his chin.

“ If I was drowning, would you save me?” asked Tendou. Ushijima shook his head.

“ You are too strong for that Tendou,” responded Ushijima. “ Your volleyball training would not fail you,”

“ Wakatoshi what I mean to say is,” sighed Tendou, “ If somebody someone cares about is in trouble, they are going to want to save them! It’s the best plot device in the world! So who was it?” Tendou leaned towards me, one brow raised. Man this guy would be terrifying to go against in volleyball!

“ It was a friend!” I blabbed, “ Now let’s just study!” I frantically opened my work and started reading over the material while I felt Tendou’s gaze, and his knowing grin. 

~Studying?~

“ All I’m saying is that Ushijima would bitch slap me across the country with only his RIGHT hand!” I explained. “ There’s no way in hell I could beat him in a fight!” How did it come to this? We were studying, but then the topic of “who would win against who” arose and well…

“ I can’t do that,” Ushijma stated, “ And I wouldn’t,” He turned his attention back to his paper, twiddling with his pen in his hand. 

“ Alright alright,” Tendou nodded, “ But would Mia win against a fight with me?” I thought about it for a while before shaking my head. 

“ Hell no, you would be too hard to hit! Your eyes are too big and mysterious!” Mia answered (Author’s note: Please tell me someone got that reference). Ushijima cleared his throat and pointed at his paper. 

“ I do not understand this small section,” he said. I nodded, then looked at his pages. 

~Tuesday Studying~

I yawned, then checked my phone. _ ‘They’re ok with it. Come to Karasuno Highschool at the times you suggested. Good Luck _ . I stood in front of the tall building.

“ So this is Karasuno huh?” I said out loud.  _ I’m here _ , I texted Tsukishima. But what did he mean by “Good Luck” in his texts? The people who I’m helping can’t be that stupid. _ Even if they are stupid, surely I’ve seen stupider. _ I heard a cheery voice. 

“ Hey MC!” I looked up to see Yamaguchi, Tsukkishima’s best friend, cheerily waving at me. Yamaguchi, along with my two friends, is the only person who knew about Tsukishima and I. He was always the sweetest person in the world, a sharp contrast to his cynical friend. I remember the first time he met me, he was extremely shy and closed off at first. But then we got to know each other and became friends.

“ Yamaguchi!” I grinned, running towards him. “ Long time no see! How are you doing? Mr. Captain of the Volleyball Team,” Yamaguchi chuckled and held the back of his neck in embarrassment. “ I’m guessing I’m helping you out too? What happened? You were doing plenty well in school the last time we saw each other,” 

“ Oh no! You’re not tutoring me! I’m doing just fine, it’s just my two friends who need your help,” Yamaguchi replied. “ Here, I’ll lead you,” We walked to another building, chatting along the way until we were stopped by a mousy-looking man wearing a green jacket. 

“ Yamaguchi who is this?” he asked, looking at me. I nervously waved my hand at him and smiled. 

“ Hi Takeda-Sensei! This is going to be Hinata and Kageyama’s tutor,” greeted Yamaguchi.

“ O-oh!” the man replied, straightening his back. “ Apologies! Good luck!” The man jogged off.  _ There it is again _ , I thought. What’s with all this “Good Luck” stuff? Yamaguchi led me to a door that was labeled “Volleyball Club Room” and opened the door. I walked in, hit by the stench of sweat and body spray. I scrunch my nose a bit, looking around. Is this… A boy’s changing room?! I observe closer to see a blushing boy with tangerine hair, another boy with black hair, Tsukishima, and a cute blonde girl. 

“ Hello,” I greeted, bowing to them. “ Are you all the ones I will be helping?” 

“ H-hi!” stuttered the girl, her face stained pink. “ M-my name is Yachi! And you’ll be helping out Hinata and Kageyama!” That simple greeting looked like it took all of the poor girl’s strength to say. I nodded and smiled encouragingly at her. It didn’t really do much but fluster her even more. 

“ And I believe the two of you, the orange haired boy and black haired boy, are Hinata and Kageyama?” I asked, looking at the two. The living tangerine nodded his head profusely. 

“ Y-yes! I’m Hinata!” he declared loudly, looking at me in the eye. “ Thank you for agreeing to help us!” 

“ Yes, thank you for tutoring us,” added Kageyama.

“ Ok you guys! Let’s get this show on the road!” I grinned, putting down my bag and sitting on the opposite side of the table. “ So, what are your averages? What are you guys struggling on?” Hinata and Kageyama looked a bit sheepish. I cocked my head in confusion. Tsukishima sighed and pulled out a few papers. 

“ I think this would best explain it,” he said, sliding the papers to me. I picked them up.  _ Practice Tests huh? _ I looked through each boy’s tests.  **Neither got more than 15%** . I stayed silent for a while, scanning their test answers. Each one was worse than the last. One of my eyes started to twitch. I stand corrected. They really  _ are _ that stupid.  _ I didn’t sign up for this! They’re even worse than Mia! Forget being able to do certain club activities, these idiots would repeat the grade multiple times from these results! _ I slapped my cheeks a few times to slap myself out of the depths of my despair. 

“ Given up yet?” smirked Tsukishima, looking down at me. I hesitated for a little bit. Even if I manage to teach them, will they apply those learning skills? What if they fail  **because** I taught them wrong? I started shaking a bit. Every single thing that could go wrong started flooding my mind. How valuable are these two to the volleyball team? How can I do this? Can I do this? Is it even possible-

“ Ms. MC!” exclaimed Hinata. I snapped my head to the orange. He looked at me with intense determination. “ Even if you’re not too confident in teaching us-”

“ We’re more than willing to learn as well as we can!” finished Kageyama, looking at me with the same drive in his eyes. Both of them were completely right. Teaching is a two-way street. A student’s results are only as good as the student’s efforts and the teacher’s teaching. I can’t panic now, not when these two are depending on me. I took a few deep breaths. 

“ Ok, I’ll have to look over these quizzes to learn your thinking processes and what they lack,” I explained carefully. “ Only then can you two know how to improve them,” They nodded simultaneously in understanding. I looked back on their quizzes and focused more on their work instead of their answers. “ Let’s start with what you two suck at the most. Kageyama, it’ll have to be English. Hinata, your worst subject definitely is Japanese. Wow, you two are kinda like opposites!” I chuckled. “ But my main question is… Why did you two ask me to be your tutor? Sure, you guys have abysmal grades but Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi seem plenty smart. Not only that, but they’ve probably been helping you study for way longer than I have,” I turned to the three. 

“ Well, we’re in different classes,” explained Yamaguchi, “ Plus, Tsukki’s method of making them pass out of sheer spite isn’t working as well anymore,”  _ Of course Tsukishima uses that sort of method _ , I realized. Although the duo seemed to be extremely driven, sheer will power can’t get them through everything. I nodded in understanding, then looked at Kageyama’s papers first. The main struggles in understanding language tended to be sentence structure, grammar, and memorization. Kageyama had a lot of the words down, but he would forget the certain rules that came with English grammar. His multiple choice answers weren’t too bad. Being able to read and understand the terms and definitions are important, but they wouldn’t matter if Kageyama couldn’t understand how to write the material.  _ Ok, but how do we fix that? _ I pondered, putting my hand on my chin. Maybe assign him a few sentences to write? I nodded. That would be a great way to test the waters.

“ Kageyama,” I said. The boy straightened up immediately. “ Choose four sentences you would normally have in a conversation and write them down. After that, hand them to me,” He nodded, wrote the sentences down, slid the paper to me, and looked at me expectantly.  _ Minus-tempo timed attack? A team can have up to three touches with the ball before they give it to the opposing team? CHANCE BALL? _ I sighed. “ Kageyama, I meant normal everyday phrases people say. Not volleyball terms. Please write them again,” Hinata snickered a bit, but was silenced by Kageyama smacking him on the head. Kageyama wrote a few more sentences down and handed his paper to me again. “ Ok, these are actually normal. Now, try to write these down in English,” Kageyama stiffened, then started to write. 

_ Ok, now it’s Hinata’s turn.  _ I looked at his paper, observed his mistakes, and gave him an assignment to do. After they both completed their assignments, I looked over them. As I checked, I could feel Kageyama and Hinata’s stares of anticipation on my figure. 

“ B-both of you….” I started, looking at them dead in the eye. “ Are massive, unbelievable idiots,” Tsukishima snickered while Hinata and Kageyama despaired. “ Kageyama, I understand that structuring and spelling English words are complicated but SERIOUSLY? HALF OF YOUR ANSWER IS IN JAPANESE! AND IN THE RARE OCCASION THAT YOU WRITE ENGLISH, YOU DIDN’T EVEN USE THE RIGHT WORDS! HINATA, READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE SENTENCE AND QUESTION! DON’T JUST ANSWER RECKLESSLY!” Yachi squeaked a bit in terror. I calmed myself down a bit. “ I’m sorry for that outburst. But, I’m glad I tested the waters today, now I know what sort of material to print out for you two,” After a few more tests, our time was up. As we were walking out of the club room, Hinata asked me a question. 

“ MC, where did you get that head injury?” he asked. I unconsciously touch the gauze on my head.

“ Hinata!” exclaimed Yachi. “ That was a bit insensitive!” She looked at me, terror clear on her face. I could hear her apology without her even opening her mouth. 

“ It’s fine,” I replied. “ Well, I got it from swimming in the ocean. Kinda,” I was only met with confused stares. 

“ What do you mean by ‘kinda’?” asked Tsukishima, one of his eyebrows raised. 

“ Well, my friend fell off a boat, and I jumped in to save him,” I mumbled in embarrassment.  _ I know, I know… It was a stupid, reckless idea... _

“ A-amazing!” grinned Hinata. “ You must’ve been like a superhero! Saving the day in the nick of time!” My eyes widened at Hinata’s reply. After that, I chuckled over his childish response. 

“ More like super stupid,” sneered Tsukishima. “ What sort of idiot jumps off a boat when qualified people can save the drawing person in the first place?” I winced at the truth. Hinata started arguing with Tsukishima and how it was still super cool that I saved my friend. His passion really made me feel a bit more proud that I saved Oikawa. After that, we all split up on our separate paths until Tsukishima and I were the only ones walking. 

“ That’s weird,” I said, turning to him. “ Don’t you and Yamaguchi live super close?” Tsukishima scoffed in reply and looked at me with the infamous glare of, ‘Did you really ask that question you stupid idiot?’.

“ Did your dumb ass really think that you could fight off some random ass robber while you’re walking to the bus stop?” he sneered. “ Hell, I think even a thug would take some degree of pity on you but then rob you,” I glowered at him for a little, then blushed. Insults aside, this was a genuinely caring thing for Tsukishima to do. To be honest, these kinds of moments are what made me happiest in our relationship. Tsukishima’s brutal honesty, but smidge of caring nature is what made me fall in love with him in the first place.  _ God, I’m so whipped _ , I facepalmed in my mind. “ Spinosaurus,” Tsukishima said, his head still facing forward. I grinned. 

“ Semi Aquatic dinosaur that had very long spines growing on its back,” I grinned. “ And a far superior dinosaur to the T-Rex,” Tsukishima’s face contorted in disgust at my statement. 

“ Clearly you have some brain damage from your ‘heroic rescue’,” he said. “ Oh wait, you were always this stupid,” I responded with a light arm punch. “ And this weak and this short,” he added, eyes flickering with mockery and amusement.

“ Listen, I’m not short,” I stated, head held a bit high. “ You’re just freakishly tall. But that just gives me access to breaking your kneecaps,” 

“ Nah, you wouldn’t be able to reach them,” Tsukishima replied. 

  
  


~At Home~

  
  


I crashed on my bed, sighing. I missed having playful banter with Tsukishima.  _ Now if I could just get over him _ , I thought. I suddenly hear a car pulling in front of the apartment building and a couple of guys chattering.  _ Oikawa must’ve come back from his trip,  _ I thought. After the chattering stopped and I heard the car driving away, I opened up my door a crack to see Oikawa carrying his luggage back up. After that, I heard him grumbling about how “carrying this many luggage bags is perfectly natural,” and how his friends couldn’t help him carry it up. I sighed then opened the door to meet him at the stairway. 

“ Need any help?” I asked, gesturing to his other… FIVE? FIVE LUGGAGE BAGS at the curb? “Oikawa why did you bring so many?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow. 

“ It doesn’t hurt being prepared,” he pouted, “ Also, I need stuff for my face! Do you think complexions, hair, and bodies this beautiful come easily? No! My body is a temple and I am constantly being worshipped by-” 

“ That’s enough, I get it,” I sighed. “ And if your body is such a temple, why can’t you actually take care of it when it counts?” I walked down the stairs to pick up a bag, and I swear I could feel my arm starting to be pulled out of its socket. “ WHAT IS IN THIS ONE?” I gasped. 

“ Clothes,” Oikawa answered simply, tilting his head in confusion. “ You know. Athletic clothes, swimming clothes, clubbing clothes, drinking clothes, ‘recovering from Iwa-chan’ clothes, seduction clothes-” 

“ WHO WOULD YOU NEED TO SEDUCE?!” I exclaimed, “ Your good looks are enough already! And “recovering from Iwa-chan” clothes? REALLY?” I sighed and grabbed the suitcase with both hands, trudging up the staircase. When I reached the level where Oikawa and my apartments are, I collapsed on the ground. When I looked down where the rest of the bags are, Oikawa was there with a shit-eating grin. 

“ I thought you were going to help me~” he sighed teasingly. I sat up immediately and stomped down the stairs. I glared at him while taking a bag, which was just as heavy as the last one and starting the difficult journey again. “ What happened to having a weak mental state?” Oikawa teased. 

“ Well, just because I’m a coward,” I wheezed, gripping the bag as tight as I can, “ Doesn’t mean that I would just give up on everything. I literally tutored an idiot for three years straight for Christ’s sake,” I put the bag down mid-stair to take a short breather. Oikawa grabbed two bags and started walking up the stairs like it was the easiest thing in the world. When he came across me, he smiled and lifted the third bag effortlessly. I growled and grabbed it back. 

“ I can handle it!” I spluttered, heaving the bag the rest of the way up. Wanting to keep the same pace as him, I pushed myself way beyond my limits. When we reached the front of his door, I leaned against the wall next to his door. “ I…did it,” I cheered quietly. I turned to see that Oikawa already went inside.  _ Wow… not even a thank you _ , I sighed and looked out into the starry sky. The cool spring breeze brushed my hair as I silently enjoyed the view. I heard the click of a door, then felt an icy sensation on my cheek. I turned to see Oikawa holding a cold canned drink against my face. 

“ I thought you were about to pass out,” he teased, slumping next to me. He held his own drink in his hand. I simply chuckled in response and admired the view. After a few moments of silence, apart from Oikawa’s obnoxious slurping, Oikawa asked something. 

“ So… your head how is it?” Oikawa gestured to the gauze on my head. The graze wasn’t smack in the middle of my forehead per say, it was more above my eyebrow. Thankfully, it was covered by my bangs (if y’all don’t have bangs just ignore that part). I touched it self-consciously. 

“ It’s ok… But the doctor said it was going to leave a scar, and for me to be careful around it. Now and then it reopens and bleeds which is an absolute pain,” I responded, taking a sip of the cool drink. I gestured to his knee. “ How is that? Are you finally going to take care of it properly?” Oikawa chuckled in response. 

“ I think the near-death experience taught me a lesson,” he laughed. “ I’m going to still practice, but take it a bit easier when it starts to hurt too much,” I nodded in approval. 

“ That’s good,” I said. “ Now you can become even stronger and better at volleyball,” 

“ Speaking of stronger…. You should really work out more,” teased Oikawa, “ Watching you haul my luggage up some stairs was pathetic,” 

“ LISTEN I COULD’VE LET YOU DROWN BACK THEN! Also, I’m not that weak!” I snapped back. “ But you have a point… My body definitely isn’t as fit as it was before. When I saved you, that was mostly adrenaline and terror. Not to mention that the tide slapped us around like a rag doll most of the time,” I sighed and looked down. 

“ Then it’s settled,” Oikawa said, standing up. I looked at him in immense confusion. He turned to me, sheer determination glimmering in his eyes. “ We’re getting your courage back!” 

“ W-what? What are you talking about Oikawa? Where the hell did this ‘courage’ topic come from?” I asked, standing up to face him. “ I can’t! I don’t want to! What if I, or you, get hurt trying?!” I frantically grabbed his arms, as if that would convince him. Oikawa still had the biggest grin on his face.

“ You can’t huh?” he chuckled, putting his hands on his hips as he shook his head. “ That isn’t what I saw when you rescued me,” I shook my head profusely. 

“ How many times do I have to tell you? That wasn’t bravery! That was adrenaline! I was terrified down in the water!” I responded. Oikawa gave me a glare, like he could see through me. 

“ You were terrified, yet you still kept swimming,” he stated, “ You could’ve just swam back to the boat, or even waited for someone to save you. But you kept on swimming deeper until you reached me. If that isn’t courage, I don’t know what the hell is!” His words shook me to the core. We made eye contact. He didn’t seem like he was lying or bullshitting me. He just looked ready. Like he was saying, “ I’m going to make the best out of you, so deal with it!”. 

Author’s POV

Now I can’t really explain what was going through her head at the time. Maybe it was because he was nagging too much. Maybe it’s because she really got brain damage from the water. But my personal theory is that through Oikawa’s encouragement, the girl genuinely believed she could do it too. That she could get her courage back. Even if that feeling was for a brief moment, it was one of the biggest steps she had ever taken in her life. So she took the outstretched hand in front of her. Not only would this decision change her life, it would change Oikawa’s as well. The Grand King, who’s pride and dignity have been beaten down by the ones who were blessed with talent, could perhaps see his own self worth through this seemingly ordinary person in front of him. 

But how could a coward and a king help each other? Only time could tell. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this too soon?
> 
> ...
> 
> Nah...


	6. The Classmate and the Set-Up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizing that she can't keep on renting Oikawa and keep herself alive at the same time, MC gets a job at a maid cafe where she meets Tendou. He, Ushijima, Mia, and MC all go to a supposed "confection convention". However in a "mysterious" turn of events, Ushijima and MC get separated from the group.

MC POV

  
  
  


“ Oikawa, you’re such a charmer!” cooed Grandma, her hand on her cheek. The brunette chuckled in response. I noticed a few things with Oikawa. He had two modes. Boyfriend Mode and Normal Oikawa Mode. In his boyfriend mode, he’s charismatic as hell. Suave, romantic, and outgoing. And in his Normal Oikawa Mode he’s…. Well, Oikawa.

“ Ok, visiting times are over!” announced a nurse. 

My grandmother immediately snapped at her for, “disturbing quality time with her future grandson-in-law”. During the nurse’s desperate attempts to keep my grandmother calm, I sheepishly look at Oikawa in embarrassment. He looked at me endearingly in response. Sometimes I would imagine what would happen if Oikawa turned off “boyfriend” mode and met my grandmother. But most of those fantasies would be replaced by Tsukishima meeting her.  _ Although their personalities would probably clash _ . I then imagined Tsukishima being sassy towards my strong-willed grandmother. Yeah, that would not end well. 

“ Sorry miss, we’ll get going,” smiled Oikawa. The nurse flushed pink and nodded. “ We’ll see you next week Grandma!” My grandmother waved back at her profusely, asking us to “update her on any  **physical** developments in our relationship”. As we were walking out of the hospital, I had to go to the bathroom. When I came out, a nurse approached Oikawa. It was the same one who told us that visiting times were over. She was young, around our age, and looked very nervous. Her face was pink.

“ Uh… Hi,” she greeted Oikawa. “ I-I was wondering if you wanted to eat out with me? If you’re free that is,” I irked at the statement slightly, then shook my head.  _ Remember, he’s a rental _ . I chided himself. Oikawa flipped out his phone, then turned to the girl.

“ Sorry, I’m waiting for my girlfriend,” he apologized. The girl looked even more embarrassed then ran away. I approached him, pretending that I didn’t just overhear the conversation. I tried to speak, then Oikawa raised his finger. 

“ Annnnndddd,our hours are done!” he chimed. “ I’ve gotta go! See ya!” He sped off. I sighed and looked at my wallet. Damn, I can’t keep on renting him for much longer. This whole “contract” thing was really draining my wallet. But thanks to the study group, tutoring sessions, and visits to Grandma, no job would take me. But at the same time, I can’t really live off of cup ramen and half a bag of chips anymore.  _ A good paying job… that doesn’t take up all my time _ … 

“Hello! And welcome to Wonder Parlour!” I greeted the customer at the cash register, wearing a pair of cat ears. To be honest, I never expected that a maid cafe would work out so well for me. At first, I thought it would be extremely embarrassing (it still kind of is now and then) but a barista isn’t half bad. The uniform was still a bit too weird for me, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The bell at the door rang again. “ Good afternoon!” I greeted the customer, my eyes closed cheerily. 

“ Hi MC!” chirped a familiar voice. “ You look nice in that!” I open my eyes to see Tendou. 

“ Tendou?” Then again, I wasn’t really that surprised. Tendou did seem like the type to enjoy manga and maid cafes. A maid approached him and asked to take his order. He shook his head. 

“ Actually, I’m the new confectioner here!” he replied. The maid nodded, then led him to the back. I remembered Tendou saying that he was studying culinary. Who knew that it would specifically be sweets? When my shift was over, I approached the redhead. “ You work here now?” I asked him. He nodded.

“ I need to make some dough!” he grinned. He held out a fork with a random pastry on it. “ Taste test?” I took the fork then tasted the treat. 

“ This is amazing!” I grinned, then gobbled down the rest of the sweet. “ You’re an amazing chef Tendou!” Tendou’s back straightened with pride. 

“ I know! But you should taste my chocolate one day. That’s my specialty!” he replied. 

“ I’m looking forward to that!” I smiled. 

“ That reminds me!” he said, smiling. “ I have this confection convention coming up! Wanna go?” I nodded profusely in response. 

“ YES YES YES PLEASE TENDOU!” I grinned, bobbing a bit in excitement. 

“ But you’re going to have to dress up kinda~” he chirped. “ And definitely not in a maid outfit!” 

“ Hey, I don’t wear it for fun!” I responded. 

~Timeskip to Saturday~

I flipped open my phone to check the time.  _ Good, I’m not late! _ I jogged around the block, towards where Tendou said to meet. Apparently, Mia and Ushijima were invited too. Hell, even Mia confirmed that she would be there! I found the three in the distance. 

“ Hi guys!” I greeted them, waving. I was wearing (completely ignore this if you wanna wear something else) a loose pink dress that had short sleeves with a small bow around the waist. I also wore comfortable, but cute kitten heels. It was warm enough to keep me from freezing during early to mid spring, but allowed me to keep cool. I also had a small bag, which had all the essentials. At least, what I considered essentials. “ Tendou, is this formal enough? Or is it too formal?” I asked, playing around with my outfit in nervousness. Tendou smiled and nodded. 

“ It’s perfect!” he chirped. 

“ Yes. Yes it is,” grinned Mia. A flash of mischief appeared in her eyes, but I was too excited for sweets to notice.

“ What do you think, Wakatoshi?” asked Tendou. I turned my head to the tall boy and flushed a bit. He was wearing a dark purple polo with a pair of navy blue pants. For once he didn’t wear sneakers, but a pair of dress shoes. In other words, he looked extremely handsome. He nodded in my direction. 

“ You look nice,” he stated. 

“ Thanks! You all look very nice too!” To be honest, that wasn’t much of a lie. However, Tendou and Mia’s clothes looked a bit more casual. 

“ Thank you. Tendou helped me pick it out,” 

“ All right! Tendou, lead the way!” 

“ Of course~” he smiled. “ Everyone, follow me!” He walked towards a shopping district that was packed with people. “ Everyone should stick together, it’s kinda crowded,” I nodded in agreement and turned to Mia, who already chose Tendou to be her “sticking together” partner. Then that leaves…. Ushijima. I looked for him and the others, but couldn’t make them out in the crowd. 

“ Uh, Guys? Guys!?” I asked desperately. I pulled out my phone, only for it to fly out of my hands and kicked around by other people. “ Shit!” I cursed. Once I retrieved my phone, I tried to stand on my tiptoes to find the others. Like a lighthouse during a storm, Ushijima stood out in the crowd of people. I trudged towards him, shouting his name and waving my arms upwards in an attempt to get his attention. Sadly, the chatter of the crowd was louder than my words. When I finally got to him, I noticed that Tendou and Mia weren’t with him either. He seemed confused as well. Looking around and calling our names, especially Tendou. 

“ Ushijima, I’m right here,” I comforted. He turned to face me. “ Do you know where the other’s are?” He shook his head . Suddenly another wave of people came around and forced us apart. “ Dammit!” I cursed. I walked towards the “lighthouse” again. “ All right, we have to make sure that we don’t lose each other in the crowd,” Ushijima nodded in agreement. 

“ How do we do that?” he asked. I thought for a little bit. Holding hands seemed a bit too intimate, especially since we were barely over friends, so what do we do?

“ What if we grab each other’s clothing? Like a leash?” I proposed. Ushijima nodded, then grabbed a handful of skirt. “ Ok! That was a bad idea!” I dismissed immediately. Ushijima cocked his head in confusion. 

“ What is wrong with what I did?” he asked. 

“ Well, when you grabbed my skirt, you grabbed a little too much which lifted it a bit. So you kind seemed like a…” I trailed off, feeling a bit embarrassed. “ A perv…” 

“ Oh, I see. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, sorry,” Ushijma apologized. 

“ No, it’s fine!” I said. “ Just grab a little bit! Or would you rather have me grab your polo?” Ushijima thought for a moment then grabbed a bit of my dress. I nodded. “ Now, time to find the others!” I picked up my phone and dialed Mia, but only had the response of the voicemail message. Maybe Tendou? I called him as well, but it yielded the same response. “ Ushijima, could you call Tendou or Mia?” I asked him.

“ But I would have to let go,” 

“ It’s fine! I’ll just grab your shirt to make sure we aren’t separated!” I gripped a bit of his polo and nodded at him in encouragement. After a few calls, his attempts became fruitless. “Hmm… You’re pretty tall,” I stated. “ Maybe you could see their heads over the crowd?” Ushijima stood up a bit straighter and looked around. 

“ Too many heads. I can’t pinpoint who is who. Also, they’re moving around way too quickly,” he stated, and went back to holding my skirt. I thought for a little bit. 

“ Did Tendou ever say where specifically this confectionary convention was?” 

“ No,”

“ Did he ever tell you where he might be if we got lost?” 

“ No,” 

“ Doesn’t this place have pretty good reception,”

“ Yes,” 

I thought for a while, and all the pieces were coming together. Tendou and Mia’s mischievous glances, the lack of communication, the huge crowd that was meant to get us lost…. It was all a set up. I groaned and facepalmed. Ushijima raised an eyebrow. 

“ Ushijima, we were set up,” I sighed. 

“ Set?” asked Ushijima. 

“ Tendou and Mia… Meant to get lost. To leave us alone. How far those this rabbithole go? Was there ever a confectionary convention? This explains why we had to dress up like this! Those idiots are trying to get us together!” I rubbed my head in frustration. 

“ What did they want to achieve?” asked Ushijima. I blushed a bit. 

“ Well… I think they wanted us to fall in love I guess?” I answered, looking down in embarrassment. Ushijima hummed in response. My embarrassment immediately turned into frustration and anger. “ But if those two think they can cheat me out of sweets… They’re dead wrong. Let’s find them!” I walked off with Ushijima right behind me. 

~Meanwhile with Tendou and Mia~

“ HEY LET ME HAVE A TURN WITH THE BINOCULARS!” Mia cried, shoving Tendou’s face. The duo were spying on Ushijima and MC behind bundles of bushes. 

“ Listen, we wouldn’t have had to take turns if  _ someone _ hadn’t bought only one binocular!” sang Tendou, looking closer at the couple. The two seemed to be finding a way to make sure they aren’t torn apart again by the crowd, only for Ushijima to grab a handful of MC’s skirt. Tendou sighed at his stoic friend’s action. 

“ Ok, I’m a broke college student! Sue me!” hissed Mia, stealing the binoculars and looking through them. “ IS HE PERVING ON HER?!” gasped Mia, rolling up her sleeves. Tendou immediately grabbed her arm to keep her down.

“ He may lack tact, but he’s a gentleman!” whisper-shouted Tendou. “ See?” He gestured to the taller boy murmuring what seemed like an apology and MC seeming like she was ok with it. Tendou and Mia shared the binoculars, with one eye in each hole. 

“ Awww,” squealed Mia, as they saw Ushijima take a smaller bit of MC’s skirt. Tendou sighed happily. 

“ If they ever get married, we better be at the front friggin row,” he said happily. Throughout the entirety of highschool, Ushijima’s main focus was only volleyball. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Tendou wanted his friend to maintain a good social life outside the beloved sport. Not only did Ushijima and MC seem to have taken a liking to each other, but they had pretty good chemistry as well. Tendou knew he was going to eventually pack his bags for France one day, and he didn’t want his best friend to be alone.

“ Oh no,” Mia murmured, sounding terrified. Tendou snapped out of his thoughts and looked closer into the binoculars. 

“ Did she find out?!” he squealed. MC looked angry, but not necessarily towards Ushijima. Actually, angry isn’t the right word. She looked  **murderous** .

“ I-I think?” Mia responded shakily. “ I think now’s a good time to hide somewhere farther away,” She turned her head to see that Tendou was already running away. “YOU COWARDLY BASTARD!”

“ Survival of the fittest!” Tendou shouted back, not even bothering to turn his head. 

~MC’s POV~

As I was frantically searching for my friends, I spotted a kid with an orange head in the midst of the crowd.  _ Was it Hinata? _ I wondered, walking towards it. Ushijima appeared to have the same idea and walked towards the orange-haired person. 

“ Oh, it isn’t him,” I muttered, realizing I mistook an orange-haired girl for him. I shook my head and walked past the girl. But when I looked at her closer, I realized she looked a lot like Hinata. But instead of the normal grin that he would wear, she looked nervous.  _ Scared _ even. I stopped in my tracks and gestured for Ushijima to stand still as I further inspected her and the man she was with. They barely looked alike, yet he was holding her hand tightly. I immediately knew what was up. I ran towards the girl, pretending to be worried. 

“ Oh thanks goodness, I found you!” I gushed, holding the girl’s shoulders. “ Where have you been?” Thankfully, she was smart enough to catch on and hugged me tightly. 

“ Big sister!” she cried. I turned to the man and smiled. 

“ Thank you so much for finding her!” I thanked. I turned, holding the girl’s hand and started to walk away. I felt a hand grab my shoulder. 

“ Who the hell are you? This is my daughter,” he stated coldly. “ How could she be your sister? You two don’t look alike at all,” I froze for a moment, then kept on playing the part. 

“ I’m dating her older brother, Hinata Shoyo. That’s why she called me Big Sister, ” I lied through my teeth, praying that he would be convinced. “ And you’re not one to talk sir,” I gestured at his features that looked nothing like her. “ If you excuse us,” I nodded at him in acknowledgement and started walking away calmly. 

“ You just wait a minute-” started the man, walking towards us. I hid Natsu behind me and faced him.  _ Is that a knife? _ I realized, terrified. I reached for the pepper spray in my bag. Suddenly, a taller figure stood in front of us and grabbed the man’s hand roughly, causing him to drop the knife. 

“ I suggest that you leave us alone before I hurt you,” said Ushijima coldly, squeezing the man’s hand tighter. I quickly grabbed the knife from the ground and held the girl closer to me. 

“ Wait, Ushijima,” I said, before Ushijima let go of the man. “ We have to turn him in to the proper authorities, to make sure he doesn’t pull this shit again,” Ushijima nodded, then grabbed the man by his shoulders.    
  


“ Lead the way,” Ushijima said to me. I nodded and started walking towards the shopping district’s police. 

~After Da Perp Got Arrested~   
  


“ Hey kid, you wanna come with us to find your brother?” asked the guard, holding out his hand to the girl. She shook her head and held on to my dress tightly. The guard sighed and turned to us. “ You two should get to the help center, they’ll announce where she is,” Ushijima and I nodded, then we walked away to a fountain. I knelt to the child’s level. 

“ Are you ok?” I asked. “ Did that man hurt you?” The girl, still shaking, nodded yes then shook her head no. “ What’s your name dear?”

“ N-Natsu. Hinata Natsu,” she answered shakily. “ You can just call me Natsu though,” I nodded my head and smiled at her sweetly. 

“ It’s a very lovely name,” I told her, “ I’m MC and that boy is Ushijima Wakatoshi. We’ll help you find your brother,” Natsu started shaking her head profusely. 

“ W-what if you two are bad people like him?” she whimpered. 

“ Then why would you join us? And if we were bad, we wouldn’t have helped you,” I reasoned softly, “ Also, I know your brother too. Hinata Shoyo, third year at Karasuno High. Horrible grades, but amazing spirit,” After I described her brother, Natsu seemed to cheer up considerably. 

“ A-are you really dating him? Are you really dating Shoyo?” she asked softly. I blushed, then shook my head. 

“ Sorry, that was a lie,” I apologized. “ I didn’t really know how I would convince that creep. Heck, I didn’t even know that you two were siblings in the first place!” I chuckled and joked with the girl, then turned my head to Ushijima. He seemed to have been staring at me softly. “ Come on, let’s get you to the help-” I was interrupted by two grumbling stomachs. I looked to see Natsu blushing and holding her stomach, and Ushijima with a pink tint on his ears. “ Ok, lunch first!” We walked around, looking for a proper restaurant to go to. 

~Eating Time~

“ Wow.. you two eat a lot,” I said, looking at the feasting wolves in front of me. Natsu seemed to practically inhale her ramen and everytime I blinked, at least an eighth of Ushijima’s hayashi rice seemed to disappear. I sighed, then started to eat my curry. Then another bite. Then another. Then another, until I was eating at the speed of those two. After we finished our food, their faces were a mess. I sighed, then wiped off the food on Natsu’s face. I turned to Ushijima who was patting his face down with a napkin, but missed a spot. 

“ Uh, you missed a spot there,” I told him, pointing to his face. After missing a few more times, I stood up and wiped it off the corner of his lip. 

“ There,” I murmured, “ All better,” When I realized how close I was to his face, I immediately sat down and fiddled with my bag to get money. 

“ Ushi-nii, are you nii chan’s boyfriend?” asked Natsu bluntly. 

“ Yes. I am her boyfriend,” nodded Ushijima. I nodded and shook my head. 

“ N-no! I’m not his girlfriend!” I refuted. Ushijima looked at me in confusion. 

“ But you are a girl. And you are my friend,” he said, “ Unless, we aren’t friends,” My heart dropped at his words. 

“ Y-you are my friend Ushijima!” I explained, flustered. “ It’s just that we aren’t in love. That’s what boyfriend and girlfriend mean,” Ushijima nodded in understanding, then stood up. 

“ Let’s go to the help desk then,” he said, then started walking out. Natsu and I followed him closely. When we finally exited, I was reminded by how crowded this place was. 

“ Ok, how do we do it this time,” I murmured. It was going to be hard to find the help desk with so many people crowding everywhere. Ushijima grabbed my skirt, then looked at Natsu, expecting her to do the same. I squeaked in surprise at the sudden contact. 

“ W-wait, I think that might be Shoyo!” cried Natsu, pointing at a direction. 

“ Where?” I cried, whipping my head to find the tangerine. Sadly, he probably disappeared among the crowd. “ Dammit, he was so close! But we can’t see him over the crowd,” Ushijima stayed silent for a while, then proposed an idea. 

“ Natsu, could you sit on my shoulders?” he asked. “ That way, you can over every head,” I nodded in agreement. 

“ Natsu, are you ok with that?” I asked her. She nodded her head, eyes shining. 

“ We gotta find him!” she answered. With a huff of effort, I helped Natsu on Ushijima’s shoulders. 

“ SHOYO!” she shouted over the crowd. “ That way!” she pointed at a direction in the crowd. Holding onto Ushijima, we followed her directions. 

“ HINATA!” I called, trying to get his attention. I heard a faint response. “ I hear him!” 

“ SHOYO!” shouted Natsu again, looking around desperately. 

“ Hinata,” said Ushijima in his normal monotone voice, trying to help. 

“ You’re doing your best already Ushijima,” I chuckled. “ HINATA!” 

“ -tsu!” said a faint voice in the crowd. 

“ SHOYO!” screamed Natsu. 

“ Natsu, we’ll do it together!” I told her. “ In three, two, one-”

“ SHOYO!” we shouted together, getting the attention of the crowd. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice. 

  
“ NATSU!” cried Hinata, running towards us. She shouted Hinata’s name, and scrambled to the ground. The siblings collided in a hug, and the crowd clapped for us. I turned a bit red in embarrassment. Hinata ran over to me, holding both of my hands in his hands. 

“ THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” he cried, bowing and holding them tighter. Suddenly he flushed pink and backed away from me. “ Y-you look pretty!” He turned his head towards Ushijima. “ J-japan!” he exclaimed, straightening his back immediately. 

“ Hinata Shoyo,” responded Ushijima, narrowing his eyes. I looked back and forth between both boys. 

“ You two know each other?” I asked. Ushijima nodded. 

“ Yes, he and Karasuno defeated my team in the finals to nationals,” Ushijima responded. 

“ Wow!” I gasped, looking at Hinata.  _ He must’ve been a first year when he pulled it off! _ Hinata turned a bit red and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “ However, that doesn’t excuse you from losing Natsu!” I scolded. “ She was almost taken away by some creep! If Ushijima and I weren’t there, who knows what could’ve happened!” I hit Hinata lightly on the head with my head. “ What are you two doing here anyway?”

“ We heard there was a volleyball competition here! A two on two tournament! For kids and their guardians,” explained Natsu.  _ This place has a gym? _

“ Natsu and I were going to participate! Sadly, we got separated by the huge crowd. Thankfully, it’s not too late to go!” cheered Hinata. He grabbed Natsu’s hand tightly. “ We’ll be going now, thanks!” I grabbed the collar of his shirt. 

“ Wait just a second Mr,” I started, “ I highly doubt you have the capabilities of leading yourself, much less Natsu, to where you two need to go,” I turned to Ushijima. “ Are you ok with going with them?” I asked him. He nodded. 

“ I want to see him play volleyball again,” Ushijima said. 

“ Before we go, I want to establish some rules!” I announced to the two red heads. “ Right before we met Natsu, Ushijima and I had a system to prevent us from being seperated by the crowd. Ushijima, you’ll hold on to my clothes like always. Natsu, you’ll be holding my hand and your brother’s. If anybody gets separate, just give a shout. That, or just find Ushijima amongst the crowd. He’s our beacon in this sense. Understood?” All three people nodded their heads. 

“ What a responsible mother,” cooed an old woman. My soul immediately cracked at the compliment.  _ Do I look that old? _ I wondered. I shook my head to snap myself out of it. 

“ I’m a highschool senior,” murmured Hinata, who looked like he was brutally assaulted. I patted his back comfortingly. 

“ Alright? Let’s go,” I announced, grabbing Natsu’s hand. I felt a familiar tug on my skirt. 

~Arrival~

“ We’ve made it!” cheered Natsu. “ You’re right Big Sis! Ushi-nii is really like a beacon!” I nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Hinata was busy registering himself and Natsu. I looked at Ushijima, who seemed distracted by a volleyball poster. 

“ Sorry that you can’t play right now Ushijima,” I said softly, patting his back. 

“ It is fine,” he responded, “ I get to play a lot of times,” However, he seemed like he still was aching to play. 

“ I’ll tell you what, after we get out of the mall, we’ll go to a gym. You can rent sneakers and buy shorts there,” I told him. Ushijima seemed to brighten up a little bit. 

“ Are you two here to participate?” asked a woman. 

“ Oh, we’re just here to spectate!” I responded. She nodded, then led us into the gym. “ We’ll see you on the court!” I waved Natsu and Hinata goodbye. 

~Competition~

“ So far Team Tangerine has been destroying most of the competitors!” exclaimed a man from the audience. It was easy for Ushijima and I to spot and recognize the orange-haired duo. They were, by far, one of the best teams in the entire competition. 

“ Hinata has improved,” hummed Ushijima. “ Even if he’s playing against younger opponents, he is relying less on instinct,” I stared at Ushijima. I didn’t know he was that observant. Suddenly, a hear a ball smack the ground. 

“ TEAM TANGERINE WINS ANOTHER ONE!” shouted the announcer. Natsu and Hinata shared a double high-five before waiting for their next opponent. 

“ NEXT UP, ANOTHER POWERHOUSE DUO…. IT’S THE OIKINGS!” exclaimed the announcer. 

“ Who the hell thought up of such a stupid name?” I murmured. But upon further inspection, Oikawa and a young bald kid walked onto the court. “ Oikawa?!” I exclaimed. 

“ THE GREAT KING?!” screeched Hinata, his arms raised in shock. Oikawa raised one of his eyebrows, but prepared himself nonetheless. 

“ Oikawa,” said Ushijima. “ He should’ve gone to Shiratorizawa,”  _ BOTH OF THEM KNOW HIM?! _ I thought to myself, before paying attention to the game again. As skilled as Natsu was, it was clear that the other kid had way more experience in volleyball. The tangerine siblings mainly depended on their insane receives and unstoppable offense to grab victory. However in this match, Oikawa seemed calculated. Like he knew how every single person would hit. It was the closest match yet. After a good 30 minutes of playing, the announcer sighed. 

“ Can’t we just call it a tie,” he whined. Hinata and Oikawa looked at the announcer, as if he made the greatest offense to mankind. 

“ LIKE HELL-” they both shut their mouths, remember they were in the presence of children. At this point, Natsu and the other kid were barely touching the ball. It was just Hinata and Oikawa. I turned to check on Ushijima. Even though he stayed as still as a stone, I could practically hear him saying: “Put me on the court, put me on the court,” 

“ Ok, can we get two volunteers from the audience,” sighed the announcer. “ The kids aren’t even playing and we need a victor,” Ushijima immediately raised his hand. 

“ Ushijima, you don’t have the proper-” I started. 

“ I can buy them both now. I want to stand on the court,” he responded, looking at me with a fiery glint in his eyes. After seeing the sheer determination in his gaze, I sighed and got up. 

“ Get down there, I’ll run to the store and get you sneakers and shorts,” I murmured. I quickly got his sizes, and sprinted to the nearest sports store. In about 10 minutes, I returned to the court and handed Ushijima his bag, heaving and sweating buckets. He nodded in thanks and ran off to change. 

“ What a great girlfriend!” cooed the announcer. 

“  **I** -” I wheezed. “  **AM NOT HIS FRIGGIN GIRLFRIEND** !” I panted again and sat down on the closest seat. Natsu and the bald kid patted my back and gave me some water. “ W-who’s the second volunteer?” I asked them, still gasping for breath. 

“ Uhhh, this random Joe Schmo who wanted to go home,” answered the bald kid,” I nodded and put my head down. My feet were friggin killing me. Sure, I could walk in them no problem, but running tortured them. Thankfully I always came prepared with a pair of socks and sneakers. Putting them on, the kid introduced himself. “ Yo! I’m Takeru Oikawa!” 

“ Y-yo,” I responded weakly. 

“ AND HERE THEY ARE! Ushijima Wakatoshi, and Hiroshii Satou!” The audience, who now seemed to have grown by a huge margin, roared. I started watching the match closely. This was going to get interesting. Oikawa was paired with Ushijima, and Hinata was paired with Hiroshii. 

“ If I had to bet, I think Oikawa and Ushijima would win,” I said. “ They are both amazing volleyball players. Although I’m a bit worried about how well they’ll get along,” Takeru shook his head in disagreement. 

“ You’re forgetting about Uncle Tooru’s special power,” said Takeru. I raised my eyebrow at the child. 

“ And that is?” I asked. 

“ He can connect with anyone,” Takeru responded, gesturing to the court. The points were still the same. Hinata with 32 points and Oikawa with 31 points. Hinata served at the duo, which ended up Ushijima bumping the ball back. Hinata saved it, only for it to fly in Oikawa’s hands. He set it towards Ushijima. Quicker than lighting, the ball smacked the ground with a boom. The crowd was silent for three seconds, as if nobody could believe that actually happened. They then cheered, their waves of sound vibrating the chair I was sitting on. 

“ How was it?” asked Oikawa to Ushijima. 

“ Just about perfect,” he responded, “ Just a little higher,” 

_ No training… no pre-matches… But Oikawa managed to draw out an insane amount of Ushijma’s power…. This is what it means to connect. _ I discovered one more version of Oikawa. Volleyball mode, where he is at his absolute best. He had nothing to hide, no image to uphold, and he had nobody he wanted to impress except for himself.  **This** is Tooru Oikawa. 

“ That was only a taste of what could’ve happened if you went to Shiratorizawa,” Ushijima told Oikawa, standing next to him. Oikawa rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at him.

“ I don’t think those Oikawa likes him very much…” Takeru nodded profusely.

“ Uncle Tooru really hates how Ushiwaka insists that he should’ve joined Shiratorizawa,” explained Takeru. I hummed in response and kept on watching the match. 

“ COME ON SHOYO!” exclaimed Natsu. 

“ Do your best Hinata!” I shouted. Hinata stiffened up like a bored, then immediately relaxed. 

“ WHERE THE HELL ARE MY CHEERS TAKERU?” shouted Oikawa. Takeru shrugged. 

“ You’re on your own Uncle Tooru!” he shouted. Oikawa sighed and served. 

  
  


~After The Match~

“ Good job winning Ushijima!” I exclaimed, holding up my hand for a high five. He nodded then hit my hand gently. “ You’ll get them next time Hinata!” I patted his back. “ Well, we should look for Tendou and Mia now! Bye Natsu! Bye Takeru and Oikawa! Bye Hinata!” I waved them all goodbye, and walked away with Ushijima. 

“ Uncle Tooru, is that your girlfriend?” Oikawa and I froze in our tracks. 

“ N-no! Why would you suggest that?” responded Oikawa, turning to his nephew. Takeru shrugged. 

“ It’s ‘cause you keep on dating every pretty girl you see and don’t know when to stop, so I thought she wasn’t any different,” he answered. I stiffened my laughter. Did Takeru inadvertently call Oikawa a whore? Noticing my trembling, Ushijima looked at me worriedly. 

“ Are you ok?” he asked. Still snickering, I turned away from Ushijima and waved my hand. 

“ I-it’s fine,” I chortled. After a good 15 minutes of walking, I spotted two familiar heads of hair. Suddenly, the anger came back to me. I walked swiftly to them and held their collars. “ Tendou, Mia. I’m so happy we found you,” I hissed. “ You two bought a pair of binoculars? How nice,” Tendou and Mia slowly turned to face me. 

“ H-hi MC-” they couldn’t even finish their sentences when I bonked them in the head. Hard. 

“ If you idiots think you can get away with tricking Ushijima and I and setting us up… You’re dead wrong,” I stated, cracking my knuckles. “ Let’s hope whatever god you worship lets you go to Heaven,” Ushijima stepped in. 

“ Tendou, I played volleyball,” he said. “ With Oikawa. It was really fun,” 

“ Oikawa huh? Isn’t that your friend? The one we ran into at the beach?” asked Mia. I nodded in confirmation.  _ Oh no, _ I realized. Sadly, it didn’t take Tendou too long to catch on. 

“ Oh ho ho ho?” he snickered. “ Is he the same friend whom you heroically dived into the ocean to save?” I blushed. 

“ That’s not important!” I stuttered. “ I think I just want to go home,” 

“ But you promised me that we would go to the gym after this,” stated Ushijima, tilting his head. I hesitated for a while, then sighed in defeat.  _ Dammit, he’s too cute _ , I thought. 

“ I did…” I admitted. “ But I’ll only be there for a short while ok?”

~At The Gym~

  
  


“ Terrifying…” Mia said, as she watched Ushijima slam another volleyball down. 

“ Yup….” I agreed. I was tossing to Tendou, who would toss it to Ushijima. 

“ I’ll leave you guys to it. Wanna come with?” grinned Mia. I shook my head, my eyes still on Ushijima. She waved me goodbye, then left. After around half an hour, I went to the bathroom. 

~Nobody’s POV~

Seeing the girl go to the bathroom, Ushijima took a short rest. 

“ So… How was the date?” Tendou teased. Even though Tendou and Mia were spying on them, they only witnessed a rough 10%. 

“ I think we had a good time,” Ushijima replied. “ We had to help a little girl along the way. I also faced Hinata Shoyo in a volleyball match with Oikawa as my setter,” Tendou gaped at his bigger friend. 

“ How did you convince him?” Tendou gasped. 

“ We were assigned to each other,” Ushijima explained. “ And we crushed Hinata Shoyo,” Tendou narrowed his eyes a bit. Surely that wasn’t the only thing worth noting when Ushijima and MC were alone together. 

“ Wow, did you see the chick in the pink dress? (Again if you don’t wanna wear it, ya don’t have to)” gushed a random guy. “ She’s so cute! I wanna ask her out!” 

“ Hell no dude!” exclaimed his friend. “ She’s been watching that Goliath the entire time! I think that’s her boyfriend,” 

“ She is not my girlfriend,” Ushijima stated to the duo, returning to the court to serve more balls. Tendou narrowed his eyes a bit. His friend looked a bit down when he told the duo about his and MC’s relationship status. Well, Ushijima looked as sad as he would get. Tendou’s thoughts were snapped by the volleyball slamming something that didn’t sound like the ground. He whipped his head to see MC holding her cranium while on the ground. He and Ushijima rushed to her side to see blood dripping from underneath her bandage. 

“ Dammit,” she groaned in pain. She was covering her face and eyes.

“ I’ll get tissues!” Tendou said, running to the bathroom. 

“ MC, are you ok?” asked Ushijima. 

“ Could you guys… Just get me home?” she asked softly. “ It hurts too much to think,” 

“ I’m sorry,” Ushijima apologized. MC shook her head a bit to keep the blood from gushing out even more. 

“ I didn’t see where I was going,” she replied. “ Please just get me home. We’ll redress my wound and consult a doctor later,” Tendou returned with the tissues in hand, but that didn’t really stop the bleeding. It just kept it from making a mess. 

“ We don’t know where you live-” started Tendou. 

“ I do. I’ll ride a taxi with you home and try to put on another bandage,” Ushijima said. “ Can you stand up?” MC shrugged and staggered to a stand. Ushijima took her bag and led her to the street. 

~At her apartment~

“ Did the bleeding stop?” asked Ushijma quietly, not wanting her head to feel worse. His question was met with silence. He turned his head to see MC leaning against the window, snoring softly. Ushijima reached his hand over to wake her up, but thought otherwise. He silently paid the cab driver and carefully put the sleeping girl on his back, her bag in hand. Adjusting her a bit, he walked up the stairs to her apartment and to her room.

~ MC’s POV~

“ -do I redress the wound?” a voice called out. A sharp sting on my head returned as I regained consciousness. I looked around to see my room, and Ushijima was sitting in front of me. My face heated up. 

“ D-did you-” I started. 

“ How do I redress your wound?” asked Ushijima. 

“ I’ll take off the bandage. My mini first-aid kit is in my bag,” I told him. I slowly peeled off the damp gauze and medical tape holding it in place. I stumbled into my bathroom, to look at the damage in the mirror. Ushijima joined me and sat me down on the toilet. “ First, we have to make sure that the wound stopped bleeding,” I instructed him. Step by step, he gently cleaned and redressed the gash in my forehead. 

“ I’m sorry for hitting your face,” he apologized, looking down.

“ Don’t worry about it!” I responded. “ Apart from that, I had a great time today! Sweets or not!”

“ Really?”

“ Really,”

  
  
  



	7. The Ex-Boyfriend and the Encouragement!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima ponders his feelings over MC a little more. Tutoring Kageyama and Hinata seemed to just get harder every day, how will MC survive? Oikawa has a weird thing for ABBA, and asks MC to play volleyball with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Haikyuu or Rent A Girlfriend. Please Enjoy!

Tsukishima’s POV

  
  


_ “ T-the point is…” I said. “ I like you MC. We should get together,” I was met with a few beats of silence before I was met with a sigh.  _

_ “ Tsukki, I don't think you’re being genuine enough,” deadpanned Yamaguchi. He had a towel on his head and taped a sign on him that said “MC”.  _

_ “ It’s hard to confess my feelings when you look nothing like her,” I responded, gesturing to the entirety of Yamaguchi’s body.  _

_ “ This is your entire problem!” exclaimed Yamaguchi. “ One day, some other guy is going to steal her under your nose! Unless you C O N F E S S,” I irked a bit. As much as I would hate to admit it, he had a point. Why are feelings so tedious? _

_ “ Ok let’s try again,” Yamaguchi sighed, priming his “hair”. He flipped the towel and said in a high-pitched voice. “ Hello Tsukishima~” _

_ “  _ **_I can’t do this_ ** _ ,” I stated, glaring at my best friend. Yamaguchi exhaled in defeat, then took off the towel and sign.  _

_ “ Then tell me,” he said, “ Tell me what you want to say to MC! How do you feel about her? What do you think of her? What do you want to tell her?” I closed my eyes and thought for a little bit. My mind flashed to the place where we first met.  _

_  
__“ I like how much you like sea creatures, and how much you know about prehistoric animals,” I started, looking at Yamaguchi. He nodded and gestured for me to keep going. I sighed, then thought a little more. Her wide grin and protective personality shifted into my brain. “ I also like how willing you are to take care of people. And how patient of a teacher you tend to be. You’re a good person and I…”_

_ “ Go on Tsukki,” encouraged Yamaguchi.  _

_ “ I-”  _

_ “ Come on!”  _

_ “ I love you. Please go out with me,” I murmured.  _

_ “ What?” _

_ “ I like you. Go out with me,” I repeated, a bit louder.  _

_ “ LOUDER AND WITH MORE VIGOR!”  _

_ “ I LIKE YOU! I LIKE YOU A LOT! GO OUT WITH ME!” I shouted. I heard my door click, with Akiteru poking his head in. His face was the color of strawberries.  _

_ “ I’m so sorry Kei! I didn’t mean to disturb you. I didn’t know you were-” _

_ “  _ **_Get out_ ** _ ,” I growled.  _

_ “ I-I support you though!” he spluttered.  _

_ “  _ **_GET. OUT._ ** _ ” I repeated.  _

I woke up, panting.  _ Dammit _ . If I said all that stuff and thought of her like that, then why did I break up with her?  _ You already know the answer _ , hissed a voice in my head. I shook my head and looked at the time. It was Sunday, tutoring day. 

“ She has another relationship now,” I reasoned to myself, getting myself dressed. The pain in my chest didn’t go away. “ I hate to admit it. But Yamaguchi….you were right,” 

~MC’s POV~

I woke up and groaned a bit. The stinging in my wound was gone, but my head still felt a bit sore. I looked at my phone. 

“ Sunday…” I murmured. Sunday. Sunday. SUNDAY. I looked back at my phone at the time. “ I’M GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN,” I screeched. I looked at my current outfit. I didn’t even bother changing out of my dress from the day before, and I smelled like sweat and dried blood. I swiftly showered, stuffed the studying material and a first aid kit in my bag, and grabbed a package of milk bread to eat as I sprinted to the station. On my way out, I saw Oikawa outside of his door. 

“ Wow, somebody’s in a rush,” he chuckled. Too busy scarfing my milk bread, I ignored him. He sighed then tossed me canned coffee. “ Stay alive! And don’t do anything to creepy Ms. Stalker!” Ripping the milk bread from my mouth, I responded:

“ I AM NOT A STALKER!” Sprinting even faster, I finally made it to the station. Boarding the train, I reviewed several notes in my class and notes for the tutoring session. This meeting would make it their sixth tutoring class, and a pretty big test was coming this week. So far, Kageyama and Hinata have improved but their results weren’t to my satisfaction just yet. I sighed out loud. “ I only hope they get a good enough grade for them to go to a few practice games with Nekoma,” If they failed any of these big tests, they would be forced to go to extra classes and the team would have to make do without them for a while. I stiffened a bit in nervousness. If they fail… then it’s going to be all my fault. The train stopped. Stepping out of the vehicle, I slowly but surely made my way to Karasuno High. 

“ Big Sister!” shouted a familiar voice. I turned my head to see a flurry of orange hair running towards me. 

“ Natsu!” I shouted, turning around. Her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I grinned and returned the hug. I couldn’t see Hinata anywhere. “ W-where is Hinata?!” Frantically looking around for the tangerine, I loosened my grip a bit. “ DON’T TELL ME HE LOST YOU AGAIN!? IS HE THE ONE LOST?! ARE YOU LOST?!” Natsu sighed and looked at me.

“ You worry too much,” she told me, “ My mom’s right behind me. We wanted to drop Shoyo off for his tutoring lesson. What are you doing here?”

“ I’m actually his tutor,” I chuckled. A bicycle bell rang behind me. 

“ Natsu!” shouted a mature, feminine voice. I turned around to see Hinata and a tall dark-haired woman catching up to Natsu. “ Don’t run off like that!” Hinata was walking his bicycle over to her as well. 

“ Hey Hinata!” I greeted. “ Why do you have your bike?”

“ Oh, I always bike home after school!” he responded. I tilted my head. 

“ Isn’t that tiring?” I asked. 

“ Nope!” Hinata replied proudly. “ Not for a volleyball player!” I nodded at him in admiration and looked at the time. It was 4:55.

“ IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU MISS BUT HINATA AND I ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE CLASS!” Turning my heel to run as fast as I can, I was quickly stopped. 

“ W-wait!” exclaimed Hinata, reaching out his hand. “ Get on the back of my bike!” 

~Rushing to school~   
  


“ I’M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!” I shrieked, standing on the little foot holds of the back wheel. Even with an extra person, Hinata was riding extremely quickly. Even though there was already a metal seat in the back, either for another bag or person, I was too worried at the prospect of falling. I gripped Hinata’s shoulders tighter. 

“ Don’t worry, we’re close!” said Hinata, turning his face at me. 

“ PLEASE KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!” I shouted, too distracted by the wobbly feeling on the bike. I closed my eyes tightly. After a while of darkness, I decided to open my eyes. With the cool early spring wind blowing against my face, I slowly opened my eyes to see the building not too far away. 

“ Hey we’re there!” I cheered. Hinata hit the brakes and stopped the bike. I hopped off then started walking towards the building. I checked my phone. 5:00. “ We’re on time!” I cheered. Hinata cheered along with me. We swiftly ran to the club room. 

“ Apologies for my lateness!” I grinned. 

“ No problem!” replied Yamaguchi and Yachi. Tsuksihima laughed a little. 

“ What sort of tutor is late for their own session?” he smirked. “ How  **unprofessional** ,” I growled internally at his insult, then took a deep breath. I  _ was  _ the one who overslept after al. Hinata, however, was a lot more aggressive.

“ It wasn’t her fault!” Hinata exclaimed, spreading his arms. “ My mom was holding us up and then we ended up late,” 

“ Thank you for defending my honor Sir Hinata,” I chuckled. “ But I overslept a bit today so I had to take the train a bit late,” Hinata blushed at the title I gave him. 

“ N-no problem!” he stuttered. 

“ Well then,” I started, slamming all the material I gathered for Hinata and Kageyama. “ You two have practice matches to get to don’t you?” I did a fair share of digging for practice tests that would improve and accurately survey Hinata and Kageyama’s progress. For once, I was confident in how they would score. Even if it isn’t perfect, surely they would pass. 

~Two Hours Later~

I hummed a bit while I scored all of their practice tests. _Incorrect, Correct, Correct, Incorrect, Incorrect_ , I thought as I graded Kageyama’s Japanese practice test. My dread steadily increased the more I looked at the mistakes they made. My eyes flicked from the answer sheet to the quizzes they took. I started ignoring the work, and focused on the results. _They can do this,_ I encouraged myself. _They can do it_. _They’re trying_. _They’re trying_. _Effort won’t fail them_. **_I_** _won’t fail them_. I felt a warm palm on my back. I turned my head to see Yamaguchi looking at me with a worried gaze. 

“ You ok?” he asked gently. 

“ F-fine!” I choked out, returning to the papers. They can’t fail this test. They won’t. Not after how hard they worked. If they fail this, then I failed as a teacher. My thoughts were interrupted by a cool sensation resting on my head. I looked up to see Hinata with a bottle of tea. 

“ Take it easy MC,” he told me gently. I nodded absently, then took the tea. I pushed it aside for later. 

“ Trust me, these idiots aren’t going to learn at all if they’re tutor starts panicking on us,” added Tsukishima, but I barely heard it. I was too busy drowning at the possibility of failure.  _ Dammit _ , I cursed internally. Cowardice started to rear its ugly head.  _ Can I _ ….  _ Do this _ ?

~After Grading~

“ Good job,” I congratulated both of them, handing their quizzes. “ You two are getting really close now,” That wasn’t a lie. Although they passed in some of their subjects, they still failed in others. That didn’t mean they didn’t improve per say but it meant they still had ways to go. 

“ Thank you!” Kageyama and Hinata said simultaneously. 

“ I will send you two more worksheets. I’m guessing Yachi, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima also give you their notes to help you. Keep on studying, and you two are going to pass,” I advised them. “ Effort won’t fail you,” 

~Walk to the train station~

“ Ready to go?” I asked Tsukishima and Yamaguchi as we were leaving the school. 

“ Wait, you three walk together?” asked Hinata. I nodded. 

“ They walk me to the station,” 

“ But why?” 

“ Because this idiot’s weak arms wouldn’t be able to fight off any attacker,” Tsukishima smirked. 

“ Listen, I have pepper spray and a kick that can break a guy’s nuts,” I retorted. “ I’m not  **that** helpless,” 

“ Oooh is Tsukishima worried for-” Hinata teased before Tsukishima hit him with a glare. 

After a while, it was only Tsukishima and I left walking to the station. 

“ But Plesiosauria is like a real-life Loch Ness Monster!” I argued. “ Except extinct,” Tsukishima smirked and shook his head. 

“ It’s long ass neck makes it the Prehistoric Giraffe of the ocean,” Tsukishima responded. “ Why would you consider it to be cool?” I opened my mouth to respond only to hear footsteps behind us. I opened up my mirror to see a shadowy figure walking behind us. I turned to Tsukishima who seemed like he figured it out as well. We kept on walking around a few corners while the tall man still seemed to follow us. I inconspicuously grabbed my pepper spray from my bag while still talking to Tsukishima casually. The footsteps grew louder and louder until I felt a tight grip on my shoulder.

“ Hey,” the man said. I shrieked, then let the pepper spray rip all over the man’s face. The man screamed in pain and wriggled on the ground. 

“ Run!” I shouted. Tsukishima sighed in response and bent down the stranger. 

“ Why did you follow us,” he stated. “ Older Brother,” The grown man continued to scream, cry, and writhe on the ground in agony.  _ Older Brother _ ? Upon further inspection, the two did have quite the resemblance. 

“ HOLY-” I started. “ WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?” I scolded, bending down to inspect the blonde. He reached up to rub his eyes, but I swiftly slapped them down. “ That’ll make it worse,” I informed him gently. “ Tsukishima, do you have any water I can use to clean it out? Akiteru, keep on blinking,” My tall ex-boyfriend nodded, then handed me his water bottle. I unscrewed the cap. “ Do you have any contacts in?” Akiteru shook his head. “ Good, keep on blinking while I pour this directly into your eye,” 

“ Could Kei hold my hand while this is-” started Akiteru. 

“ No,” responded Tsukishima coldly. “ MC, how do you know this?”

“ This isn’t the first time I pepper sprayed someone who wasn’t going to hurt me,” I responded, slapping Akiteru’s hands from his face again. “ Is your house close?” 

“ Around a five minute walk,” Tsukishima informed. 

“ Good. Guide your brother back home,” I commanded. “ The station is only a few blocks away. I’ll be fine,” I reassured him. Tsukishima hesitated a bit, then held out his hand to his brother. 

“ I don’t want any of that pepper spray getting on me,” he said, grabbing Akiteru’s hand. He started walking away. “ MC, stay safe ok?” I flushed red and walked away. 

“ I will!” I responded, trying not to stutter. Within that cold shell, there was still kindness. That’s Tsukishima for you. The boy who I inevitably still yearn for even after our relationship ended.

~At Home~

I was walking up the stairs with my mind still swirling with thoughts of Tsukishima, tutoring, and my grades. I was unlocking my door before a familiar voice interrupted me. 

“ Ms. Stalker are you done with your mysterious stalker activities?” chirped Oikawa. I irked and turned my head. 

“ I’m not a stalker!” I exclaimed. Oikawa chuckled in response. 

“ But can I ask you a question?” he said. 

“ Shoot,” 

“ Why was Ushiwaka at your apartment?” Oikawa asked. “ Are you two uhhhh-”

“ It’s nothing like that,” I sighed. “ We went to the gym and he served a ball directly at my head wound on accident,” I flipped my bangs up (if ya don’t have bangs ya don’t need to flip em) to show the wound. “ I got really dizzy and he helped me clean it out and redress it,” 

“ Ouch,” hissed Oikawa. “ Ushiwaka’s serves are killer. I was just worried you were making him an apprentice stalker to stalk me,” 

“ I AM NOT A STALKER! AND WHO THE HELL WOULD STALK YOU?!” I retorted angrily. 

“ Calm down, you’ll wake up the building!” teased Oikawa. “ Also, you would be surprised at how many girls wanted a piece of this in highschool,” He shivered a bit, looking a bit scared. 

“ But what’s your deal with Ushijima?” I asked him. “ You look like you have a grudge against him. And your nephew told me you didn’t like him since he wanted you to go to his school or something,” Oikawa sighed, then sat down in front of his door. I sat in front of mine. 

“ It’s a long story,” he started. “ Ushiwaka and I have  **history** . Ever since middle school, he’s beaten me in every single volleyball game. Always, always, always. No matter what techniques I learned, no matter how hard I worked, no matter how many hours I put into practice he still beated me. No matter what I did, I fell short. When I finally went to highschool, I went to the same school as Iwa-chan to beat Ushiwaka and finally go to nationals. And throughout highschool his  **stupid** team kept on beating us.That tall farmer bastard always told me ‘You should’ve come to Shiratorizawa,’ ‘You should’ve come to Shiratorizawa,’ to the point where it got  **torturous** to hear. He would keep on telling me that if I went there, I could’ve ‘realized my potential’ and gone to nationals. And he was right. If I went there, I could’ve gone to nationals. But not once did I regret my decision even if it was a stupid one. Although my worthless pride prevented me from my goal, I will  **never** wish I went to Shiratorizawa,” Oikawa sat up straighter and looked more determined than ever. 

“ Worthless?” I echoed, cocking my head. “ I wouldn’t say your emotions leading to your decision was  **worthless** ,” Oikawa looked at me, his eyes beckoning me to continue. “ Sure you might’ve achieved your dream of going to nationals but it wouldn’t have been on your own terms which is just as bad as not getting there in the first place. You stuck to your ideals and guns, which isn’t what I wouldn’t completely describe as pride. I believe it was something else that stopped you from going there, which is what you should be proud of. Shiratorizawa’s path might have led to victory, but it might’ve not been for you. Your ‘worthless pride’...” I looked him in the eye with unwavering certainty. “ Might just have been the dignity of a volleyball player,” Oikawa looked at me for a long while. 

“ For a stalker, you sure are smart,” he finally said. 

“ ANNNNDDDD I’M GOING TO SLEEP,” I announced, stretching my arms. 

“ WAIT WAIT WAIT,” Oikawa said. “ Wanna watch me play volleyball? I’ll even give you a few pointers~”

“ Why the hell would I do that?” I asked him. “ And I’m sort of scarred for life from the whole ‘Ushijima’ serve to the face thing,” Oikawa laughed heartily. 

“ That’s the exact reason Ms. Aquarium,” he chimed.  _ It’s a small step forward from Ms. Stalker _ , I thought. “ Don’t forget that I said that we’ll get your courage back. And volleyball’s the first step! After that, we’ll swim. And then you’ll finally stop being such a worry wart!” This idiot really is trying so hard to help me… But why should he do this? Isn’t he just a rental boyfriend? Oh yeah that reminds me….

“ Why exactly are you a Rental Boyfriend?” I asked him. 

“ Argentina,” he curtly explained. 

“ What?”

“ I wanna fly to Argentina and play volleyball there,” he clarified. “ I was inspired by this Argentine athlete. And I wanna follow him there. But I need to save up some money before that happens. Also, I could ask the same question. Why did you rent me?” 

“ It’s a bit embarrassing actually,” I confessed. “ I got dumped by my boyfriend and while trying to get over him, I rented you. It’s a horrible coping mechanism and the method didn’t work anyway. I’m still head over heels,” I chuckled self-deprecatingly. “ It’s getting a bit late and I need to study. See you,” I walked inside my apartment and briefly surfed the web for good studying material, for me and for the people I tutor.  **I ended up sleeping at 2:00 AM while studying for a test** . 

~ At the Tsukishima Household ~

Nobody’s POV

“ Why did you stalk us, you creep?” growled Tsukishima at his puffy faced brother when they finally got home.

“ I wanted to see the cute girl that my little brother was walking with,” he retorted, taking off his pepper spray stained shirt. “ Was she your girlfriend Kei?”

“ No,” Tsukishima responded, walking to his room. “ She’s Hinata’s and Kageyama’s tutor,” Akiteru watched his brother leave in slight amusement. His little brother couldn’t just trick him so easily, there was something between the girl and his sibling. Akiteru could just feel it. Just like how he could feel the pain in his eyes and skin. 

Tsukishima laid on his bed a little longer. Even if she wasn’t dating Oikawa anymore, he doubted she would want to try again. Her paranoia would get the better of her and she would start focusing on keeping the relationship afloat rather than the actual relationship itself. Not only that, but Tsukishima doubted he could love her the way she needed to be loved. 

“ Love’s a racket,” he sighed to no one in particular. He heard a screech from the bathroom. 

“  **THE PEPPER SPRAY STREAMED FROM MY FACE TO MY DICK** ,” screamed Akiteru. 

~ 5:30 AM, MC’s POV~

The sound started out faintly from the other side of the wall. I groaned and kicked it to make my neighbor shut up. The sound grew louder and louder until I could hear the lyrics. 

“ Mamma Mia~ Here we go again~” sang a familiar voice. 

**“ No** .  **Not today** ,” I groaned. I heard insistent knocking on my door. I stumbled to the door and opened it to see Oikawa blaring ABBA with his phone and an athletic bag strapped on his shoulder. 

“ Come on! I thought we were going to do some volleyball together~” he chirped. 

“  **Do you know what time it is** ,” I growled. “ I slept at 2:00 AM last night and classes start at 8 for me,” My obvious annoyance didn’t seem to deter the brunette. 

“ Yes I’ve been heart broken hearted! Blue since the day we parted~” he kept on singing. I sighed and laid my hand over his mouth to shut him up. 

“ Not in the morning,” I mumbled. “ Not in the morning,” I shut the door in his face and crashed my face on my bed. 

~Study Group~

No One’s POV

Mia noticed it even before they looked at her. Tendou knew in one glance. Ushijima… well, it took him a while to realize. MC was in full panic mode. She didn’t even help Mia, Tendou, and Ushijima as much as she would. She fervently highlighted her notes and mumbled biology under her breath like a prayer. 

“ She probably got a bad grade,” Mia murmured to Tendou and Ushijima. Tendou nodded and left the young girl alone in her thoughts. 

“ MC,” said Mia, barely snapping MC out of her panic. 

“ Yeah what is it,” she mumbled. 

“ One bad grade isn’t going to kill you,” her friend informed. 

“ Yes, but this isn’t just  **one bad grade** ,” MC responded, taking out her laptop to relisten to her professor’s lecture. “ The recent grade I got made me realize something. I’m steadily declining and I don’t know what to do…. If I don’t do well on the next exam then what’ll happen to me?” 

“ You’ll live and you’ll learn,” deadpanned Mia. MC was too distracted by her panic. This rarely happened to her during her school years, seeing that she was a pretty smart student. But that was the very downside to being such a good student. She wasn’t used to failure and it affected her more than anything. 

_ The more stuff I do, the less time I have left to study _ , MC reasoned. In other words, the girl realized she couldn’t keep on doing all this stuff at once. Her grandmother would be released from the hospital sooner or later, but she still had her job to worry about. Not only that but the curriculum would only get  **harder** .  _ Sorry Oikawa, it seems that I have to put volleyball on hold _ , she apologized internally. If her grandmother does get released from the hospital….

“ I would have to stop renting him,” MC murmured. 

“ Huh?” asked Tendou. 

“ Nothing,” replied MC, “ It’s nothing,” 

~After Studying~

MC’s POV

“ See you at work, Tendou,” I said, waving him and Ushijima goodbye. Ushijima didn’t leave, but approached me. 

“ Do you want to play volleyball with me?” he asked.  _ Where did that come from _ ? I cocked my head and thought for a moment. Tomorrow, I have to prepare Kageyama and Hinata for the big test on Wednesday. Not only that, but I have to improve massively myself. I checked the time:  _ 9:00 PM _ . There’s also the fact that my previous experience with Ushijima and volleyball wouldn’t really… mix. 

“ Sorry Ushijima, but I’m not the best person to play volleyball with,” I smiled sheepishly. “ See you next Monday!” 

“ Yes, see you,” Ushijima responded. I started walking home. Hinata and Kageyama sent me their practice test results and they weren’t half bad. They passed, but barely. Now they have to make that their average grade and they wouldn’t have to worry about supplementary classes this semester.  _ But why did Ushijima invite me to play volleyball with him? _ I wondered. It was obvious that he adored the sport, but shouldn’t he play with someone he could have fun with? I shook my head.  _ Now’s not the time to focus on that _ ! I chided. Now’s the time to help Kageyama and Hinata pass their classes! If they duce this test, they wouldn’t be able to go to several practice matches! I’m not going to let them fail! I  **can’t** fail. I can’t-

“ DANCING QUEEN! FEEL THE BEAT OF THE TAMBOURINE OH YEAH~” sang a familiar voice. 

“ Oh god please no,” I muttered, turning around. Oikawa was jogging towards me, waving his hand.

“ You missed the volleyball thing!” he chimed. “ It was totally cool~” 

“ You woke me up at 5:30 AM,” I growled. “ And what’s with you and ABBA?”

“ My older sister and I watched the movie Mamma Mia a lot as kids! ABBA became a permanent part of my soundtrack after that!” 

“ Alright then. See you on Wednesday,” I said, continuing walking home. 

“ Wait! Aren’t we going to play volleyball?” 

“ Listen, my grades have been dropping and I have to tutor two dummys. In addition, I don’t think I’m cut off for volleyball,” Oikawa ran in front of me and put his hands together.

“ You don’t have to play! Just watch me!” Oikawa said. “ After all, any girl who watched  _ the _ Oikawa Tooru play-” I walked around him. “ DON’T JUST IGNORE ME!” I turned my head, choosing to humor him. 

“ I would watch you play because-” I said. After a few beats of silence, I shrugged and kept on walking. 

“ If you change your mind. I’m the first in line-” I heard him sing softly. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “ HONEY I’M STILL FREE! TAKE A CHANCE ON ME!” He sang, no sang was the wrong word,  **shrieked** . 

“ Quiet down! You’re embarrassing yourself!” I hissed, looking around. 

“ I’ll stop singing if you agree!” he pouted, inhaling to sing more. “ IF YOU NEED ME LET ME KNOW GONNA BE AROUND-” I started walking away, only for Oikawa to keep following me and sing/shrieking. I turned around and looked him in the eye. 

“ Stop. Singing,” I said. He gave me a gaze that said, “ **Make me** ,” 

“ OK EVERYONE HERE’S THE CHORUS MY FAVORITE PART!” announced Oikawa. “ IF YOU CHANGE YOUR-” I put my hand over his mouth. 

“ I’ll watch you play volleyball,” I sighed, defeated. “ Only at 3:30 ok? And only for an hour! I have to go somewhere tomorrow!” Oikawa grinned in response. 

“ You see?” he exclaimed. “ Nobody can resist the Oikawa charm!” I glowered at him in response. 

“ One. Hour,” I hissed. 

~Volleyball Practice~

I walked into the gym with utmost caution. Who knows when a rogue volleyball could be flying from anywhere? I looked around for Oikawa until a volleyball made contact with my cheek. I stumbled a bit, then fell on my butt.

“ Sorry miss, are you ok?!” shouted someone, jogging over. I touched my stinging cheek. Yeah, coming here was a mistake.

“ I’m fine sir,” I replied, standing up. “ I was just going to leave actually-” 

“ MC YOU MADE IT!” shouted Oikawa. I froze in my tracks and turned around. “ Gee, what happened?”

“ It was just a volleyball that made contact with my cheek,” I sighed. “ But compared to Ushijima, the impact was lighter than a feather,” Oikawa irked at the sound of his rival’s name, but brightened up again. 

“ Glad to hear you’re fine!” he chirped. “ Come on! Time to watch me play!” I nodded, then followed him. The pain in my cheek was already gone. Being hit by a volleyball again wasn’t as potentially hospitalizing as I thought before.  _ But that doesn’t mean I’ll play _ ! I thought stubbornly. I sat in one of the bleachers, watching Oikawa interact with his now teammates. 

“ Nice to meet you guys!” introduced Oikawa. “ I’m Oikawa and I play setter!” He just met them? Could he really sync with them that easily? Takeru’s words echoed in my ear.  _ “He can connect with anyone _ ,” The game started, and I was hooked. 

After just a few plays, Oikawa managed to learn the spiking habits of all his teammates. It didn’t take a genius to recognize that Oikawa wasn’t an ordinary volleyball player. He was special. Dare I say,  _ talented _ . His team won both sets, and I applauded them. 

“ That was pretty cool,” I admitted to Oikawa, who smirked.

“ I know right? Surely this means you want to play-”

“ The moment you can figure out a way for volleyballs not to hit my face is the moment I’ll start playing. Now if you excuse me, I have tutoring to go to,” I started walking away before I asked him a question. “ How did you connect with everyone so easily? That’s a pretty sick talent,” Oikawa stiffened a bit. Wasn’t that a compliment? 

“ It’s not really a talent persay,” Oikawa explained. “ It’s a skill I developed over time,”

“ Huh,” I murmured. 

~Tutoring Time~

Grading Kageyama and Hinata’s tests once more, I fell into a mini-depression. Was this really the best I could do? Surely this couldn’t be the result of me teaching them. They’ll be fine. They’ll pass, they’ll pass, they’ll-

My thoughts were interrupted by soft lofi and the sensation of headphones being put on my head. I looked up to see Tsukishima’s hands on the ear muffs, looking me in the eye. 

“ We can’t have our tutor having a panic attack from their idiocy,” he said loudly enough for me to hear over the music. “ Calm down and don’t forget the process,” I nodded, and took deep breaths. I looked at Kageyama’s and Hinata’s thought processes through their answers and work. They weren’t so far from salvation than I thought. I smiled then grabbed a red pen to mark their answers and work. After that, I took off the headphones. 

“ Thank you Tsukishima,” I smiled at him. “ That was really stupid of me wasn’t it? I should’ve calmed down,” I turned to Hinata and Kageyama. “ From my reactions, you thought that you two did a horrible job didn’t you? You two did pass, but barely. And barely isn’t good enough for the real test. Barely isn’t good enough to change your grades around. But that doesn’t mean you two are hopeless. As I said on Sunday, effort will not fail you. I got you all snacks from my job to thank you all for your work,” I pulled out a big box of leftover treats and chocolates from the cafe. “ Please, dig in,” 

“ Thank you for tutoring us MC!” thanked Kageyama.

“ Yeah, helping Kageyama must’ve been torture,” added Hinata.

“ Shut up you idiot!” Kageyama said. “ I beat you by two points in the practice test!”

I gestured to Yamaguchi and Yachi to eat as well. “ You two gave these guys their notes. They should thank you for helping them even more than they should thank me,” 

“ I also remember that you guys are athletes, so I brought meat buns and milk too in case these sweets weren’t up to you guys,” I added. Kageyama and Hinata’s eyes shined as they scarfed down the food.

“ That doesn’t mean gobble them like animals!” I scolded. “ What if you two choke?” Hinata and Kageyama hesitated, then nodded at me. They chewed and swallowed more thoughtfully, but still ate and drank swiftly. I chuckled and watched the pair eat for a little bit before I felt a poke at my side. 

“ Don’t you love sweets?” asked Tsukishima, holding out a mini slice of chocolate cake. “ You shouldn’t be unincluded from this,” I blushed, then took the slice. 

“ I also brought some strawberry shortcake,” I muttered. “ I remember it was your fav-”

“ Oh man this strawberry cake is delicious!” chimed Hinata, gobbling the pastry. I sighed. So much for showing him that I still cared. 

“ Hey Hinata! That’s for Tsukki!” shouted Yamaguchi. “ MC brought it for-”

“ Yamaguchi, shut up,” Tsukishima said, saving me from embarrassment. 

“ Sorry Tsukki!” grinned Yamaguchi. After a few minutes of eating, I clapped my hands. 

“ Ok, let’s clean up and keep on studying!” I told them, smiling. “ You need to improve on some things!” 

~Test Results~

I tossed and turned in my bed. I checked my phone again for any news from Yachi, Yamaguchi, Hinata, Kageyama, or Tsukishima. Their test results were coming today. Did they fail? Did they pass? My phone buzzed.  _ 2 images sent _ it read. I swiftly went to my messages and saw that Hinata was the one who messaged me.  _ 35 _ and  _ 32 _ spoke the red marker on their test grades. My phone buzzed again, another message from Hinata.  _ “Sorry, you did your best,” _ he messaged me. 

“ But I obviously didn’t,” I muttered. “ If I did my actual best, you two would’ve passed,” I put my phone down and laid in my bed for a while. What sort of teacher am I? It’s my fault that they didn’t pass. I could practically sense their effort every single session. Maybe if I worked just as hard, I could’ve….

“ They don’t need a tutor like me,” I murmured. They were diligent students, but they needed the right teacher for the job. I buried my face into my pillow and drifted off into sleep. Thoughts of grades and volleyball circled my mind until I was awoken by light raps on the door. I looked out my window, sunlight was sprinkling into my room. I checked the time. 10:00. Late, but that’s ok for a Saturday. The knocking got a bit firmer. 

“ Coming,” I yawned, walking towards the door. I opened it wide to see Ushijima holding a potted plant. “ Ushijima?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. He held out the pot to me. 

“ You seemed distressed on Monday, and throughout the week,” he told me. “ I told you that a smile looked good on your face, and you didn’t do much of that last week. So, I was a bit concerned for your well being. I got you this potted plant for you to water and grow. It adds a bit to your daily routine and you will feel very glad once it blooms,” I stared at the plant for a little before taking it.  _ That’s why he wanted to play volleyball with me _ , I realized.  _ Volleyball makes him feel better, so he’s doing the same with this as well _ . 

“ You really are a nice guy Ushijima,” I said, smiling at him. 

“ Really? A lot of people tell me that I lack tact. Even though I’m extremely tactful during volleyball,” he replied. I giggled a bit. They  _ were _ right. Ushijima could be blunter than a hammer sometimes. 

“ Ushi, that means that you are a bit too blunt,” I chuckled, holding the pot closer to me. “ But that doesn’t mean you’re not a nice guy. And thank you, I really needed this,” 

“ A plant?” 

“ No, somebody who’ll cheer me up,” I smiled. 

~A Little Later That Day~

My phone buzzed on my desk. Yamaguchi was calling me. I answered it 

“ Oh hey Yamaguchi,” I greeted.  _ It’s now or never MC, you have to tell him that they have to get a better teacher that wasn’t you- _

“ MC! Come quickly to the Karasuno gym! No time to explain!” shouted Yamaguchi. He then immediately hung up.  _ Did something bad happen? Did any of those idiots get in trouble _ ?

“ Oh no…” I muttered in worry. I immediately got dressed and rushed to the station. After a while of sprinting to the gym, I open the doors frantically. 

“ YAMAGUCHI WHAT HAPP-” Yachi immediately shushed meI looked closer at what was happening. I read the white board on the side. Karasuno vs Date Tech practice match? Where’s Yamaguchi? What was so urgent? “ Yachi, what’s happening?” I asked the manager. 

“ Please, just watch,” she replied, looking at the match. I nodded and observed the volleyball game. Quicker than lighting, I saw Hinata sprint from one side of the court to the other and slam the ball to the ground. My eyes widened. This was insane. Oikawa’s gym practice was pretty good, but this. This was insane. Throughout the match, I could feel Hinata and Kageyama’s pride and love for the sport. Even after the match, I was still standing next to the scoreboard in shock. Tsukishima approached me. 

“ This is why those two idiots study even though there’s little to no hope for them,” he said. “ Volleyball pushes them forward and they have this innate ability to never give up. Don’t give me any crap about being unable to teach them. You  **can** . And you  **must** . You are the best tutor they’ve ever had but you’re planning on giving up on them? These two are dumbasses to the core but they’re willing to learn from you. You have to teach them,”

“ But how?” I replied. “ They tried so hard and I failed them! I told them effort would help them pass but-” Tsukishima shoved their test grades in my face. 

“ Progress isn’t immediate dumbass,” he said. “ Do you think that just because they didn’t pass that stupid test then that means they haven’t improved at all?” I looked down at their answers, then their work. He was right. I was so obsessed with the results, I constantly forgot about the process. Hinata and Kageyama ran towards me and bowed. 

“ Sorry that we didn’t pass!” Kageyama said. 

“ We’ll try even harder next time!” exclaimed Hinata. I sighed and bopped them both on the head. 

“ It wasn’t your fault, dummies,” I chuckled. “ As your teacher, I have to take some responsibility ya know? You two improved massively and I couldn’t be more proud. We just have to work harder and pass midterms before summer do ya hear?!”

“ YES MA’AM!” they shouted.  _ But how do I do that? _ I wondered. Their coach approached me. 

“ Oh! Takeda-san I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, bowing apologetically. “ Yamaguchi told me that there was something urgent and-”

“ It’s fine MC!” the man comforted. “ Just tell Yachi to give Ukai and I a heads up first ok?” I nodded. 

“ But Yamaguchi, thank you for inviting me here. You and everyone helped motivate me to keep on tutoring them,” I thanked. 

“ It was actually Tsukki’s idea,” Yamaguchi admitted. My eyes sprung open.  _ No way _ , I thought in disbelief. I approached the blonde. 

“ You’re a really nice guy you know,” I grinned, poking his face. Tsukishima irked and walked away. 

~At the Apartment~

I sighed for what felt like the upteenth time.  _ I know I promised that I wouldn’t give up on them but _ …. I looked over their answers again.  _ It seemed that they forgot some of their answers completely _ . I stretched and walked out of my apartement, canned drink in hand. I took a sip and looked at the stars. 

“ Hey,” greeted Oikawa, sitting in front of his door. 

“ Is this apartment talk becoming a wacky tradition?” I asked the chestnut haired man. I had a realization. “ Wait, Oikawa if you were to-” 

“ Nope, none of this ‘what if’ stuff,” stopped Oikawa. “ Just ask me,” 

“ Well, I’m tutoring these two guys. They're improving, but not as much as I know they could. I know they and I both tried as hard as we could, but it feels like pushing a boulder uphill,” I admitted. “ I thought that since you know how to connect with people, you would know how to handle this,” Oikawa hummed in response and thought a while. 

“ I don’t think it’s how well you taught them that was the problem. I think it was the way you taught them,” he said. I cocked my head. “ Keep in mind that these are individuals with individual preferences. When I set a ball, I don’t just set it the same with every spiker. Each of them have unique traits that allow them to spike the ball differently, get it? Some studying techniques might’ve worked like a charm for you, but it might be difficult for them,” 

“ Wow,” I gasped. “ For a pretty boy, you’re actually smart,” 

“ Hey!” Oikawa whined. 

“ But all you said, I think I finally know what to do,” I grinned. “ Thank you, Oikawa,” 

“ You’re very welcome Ms. Stalk-” I threw my empty can at him. 

~Tutoring Session on Tuesday~

I walked into the club room, my head held a bit higher.  _ Ok, I alerted Coach Ukai and Takeda about this so the gym should be ready _ , I thought. I breathed in and out. 

“ You won’t be needing your pencils or papers this time,” I announced, gesturing then to follow me. As we walked to the gym, I kept on speaking. “ You two will be practicing volleyball, and I will watch,” Everyone looked at me in confusion. 

“ I’m not complaining about more volleyball, but we just failed a test. Shouldn’t we-” started Kageyama. 

“ This is exactly what we should’ve been doing! All the material flew from one ear to another 80% of the time while I was helping you! Now that isn’t your fault, nor is it mine. That’s why instead of teaching you material…” I grabbed a volleyball and held it in front of them. “ I’ll watch you guys practice, and tutor you accordingly. I’m teaching you both to learn,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa watching Mamma Mia with his older sister is canon in my heart


	8. The Love Interests and the Filler Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically a weird ass gameshow lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I didn't update lately y'all! Something really bad came up, so I quickly wrote out this super short chapter! Don't worry, I'll be updating next week.

**NOTE: NONE OF THIS IS CANON IN MY STORY**

  
  


“ AAAANNNNNNDDDD HERE WE GO!” announced a host. “ We’re playing the ever so entertaining game of ‘Wing Man’! The rules are quite simple! As you can see in this story, there are a total of four love interests for our protagonists! Each love interest has a representative AKA a Wing Man who will convince our Author (and readers) who’s the best match for our lovely protagonist by answering a series of questions! Representing Ushijima Wakatoshi is Tendou Satori!” 

“ Hey everyone!” greeted the red head, taking a seat behind a table with a buzzer on it. There were a total of four tables and each had two things on it. A buzzer and a screen on it that showed how many points each contestant had. “ I won’t let you down Wakatoshi fans!” 

“ Next, representing the cold hearted blonde that is Tsukishima Kei, is Yamaguchi!” cheered the host. Yamaguchi shyly waved at the crowd and took his seat. 

“ I’ll do my best for Tsukki and for MC!” the green head announced, determined. 

“ The next person, representing the cheerful tangerine Hinata Shoyo, is Kageyama Tobio!” The raven haired boy took his seat and looked around quizzically. 

“ Why am I here?” he asked. An assistant whispered in his ear for a little bit. “ Oh. I’ll defeat all of you,” 

“ Not really the point but I like your spirit!” chuckled the announcer. “ Finally there’s the representative of the chestnut haired ‘Great King’, IWAIZUMI HAJIME!!!” Iwaizumi calmly took his spot behind his designated table. 

“ I don’t really know why you chose me to be the representative,” Iwaizumi sighed. “ Any girl wouldn’t deserve a conniving bastard like Oikawa,” 

“ To spice it up a bit, we put the love interest and our darling protagonists to spectate and comment!” mentioned the host gesturing to another table featuring a tomato red MC and Hinata, a livid Tsukishima, an annoyed Oikawa, and a stoic Ushijima.

“ Just kill me,” muttered MC. “ I can’t stand this embarrassment,” Her face was against the table. 

“ You got this MC! Stay alive!” encouraged Hinata. 

“ WHAT THE HELL IWA-CHAN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!” exclaimed Oikawa. Ushijima just sat there quietly. 

“ Ok first question contestants! Convince me which love interest had the best first meeting. Remember, the quicker and clearer the answer the more points you receive from the audience!” said the host. Quicker than lightning, Yamaguchi hit the buzzer.

“ One hundred percent Tsukki!” he exclaimed. “ Even though it wasn’t canonically announced in the story, the author hinted that Tsukki and MC met at an aquarium or a museum! This first meeting immediately establishes their intellectual chemistry since they are both related to similar things!” The crowd murmured in agreement. 

“ Any comments you guys?” asked the host to the table. 

“ It’s such a good explanation that I think it’s hard to compete against,” admitted Hinata with his hand to his chin. Meanwhile, MC had smoke flowing out of her head. 

“ Yamaguchi…. Shut up,” muttered Tsukishima, pink tinting his ears. The screen on Yamaguchi’s table lit up and had a number 15 on it. 

“ 15 points to Yamaguchi for the snappy and well-thought out answer!” announced the host. Another buzzer sounded. “ And now a response from Tendou!” 

“ I admit that opponent Yamaguchi does make an excellent point,” admitted Tendou. “ However, we cannot deny the amazingness that is MC and Wakatoshi's first meeting! He helped her on the first day of school to keep her from getting lost,” The audience talked amongst themselves for a little. 

“ But he was far from a gentleman,” interjected Iwaizumi. “ He ran at a pace that was hard for her to keep up and insulted her,” 

“ In his defense,” said MC, “ I did think he was going to kidnap me, and I was pretty weak at the time. Not only that, but Ushijima's a very blunt person. He goes at his own pace and that’s ok! Don’t put that on him,” Echoed “awws” came from the audience and Tendou received 10 points. 

“ WHAT? HE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A WELL THOUGHT OUT ANSWER!” shouted Yamaguchi. 

“ But that one moment where MC bravely defended Ushijima’s personality was so sweet!” gushed the host. “ Isn’t that right folks?” Whistles and cheers came from the crowd. “ In the lead is Team Tsukishima, followed by Team Ushijima, with last place being Team Oikawa and Team Hinata!”

“ COME ON KAGEYAMA, WE’RE LOSING!” shouted Hinata. “ Host-san, this is completely unfair! Kageyama’s a mess in tests and he knows nothing about romance!” 

“ WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME?” roared Kageyama, standing up from his seat. 

“ He has a point,” muttered Tsukishima. “ Kageyama’s denser than stone and has the emotional capacity of a vegetable for things that aren’t volleyball,” Before Kageyama could physically assault Tsukishima, the host nodded in agreement. 

“ Fine, we’ll get another contestant to help out Team Hinata. Now please welcome, Natsu Hinata!” The crowd cheered as the young red haired girl skipped on to the set and sat next to Kageyama. 

“ I’ll do my best!” she promised. 

“ Wait, can I get a-” started Oikawa. 

“ No,” responded the host curtly. “ Ok, now for the next-” 

“ BUT WHY! IWA-CHAN’S SUCH A GORILLA THAT HE CAN’T POSSIBLY-” Oikawa was cut off by a volleyball to the face. 

“ Sorry, please continue,'' Iwaizumi apologized. 

“ Ok for the next question: why does your representing love interest compliment MC the most?” Natsu immediately buzzed the buzzer. 

“ She compliments Shoyo the best because they’re sort of the complete opposites,” Natsu stated. “ She’s responsible, takes care of people, and Shoyo definitely needs to be taken care of! Not only that but Shoyo can cheer her up when she’s sad and he always gives her boosts of optimism!”

“ N-natsu…” cried Hinata, weeping tears of joy. “ Thank you!” 

“ Wait, but isn’t that basically the equivalent of taking care of a toddler?” asked Tsukishima. Team Hinata received 15 points. Hinata growled and lunged at the blonde. 

“ Hinata!” exclaimed MC, holding the kicking ball of rage back. “ Calm down!” 

“ You see?” smirked Tsukishima. MC, who was still struggling to hold the tangerine back, had her forehead hit by Hinata’s elbow. She flopped on the ground, groaning with pain. 

“ MC ARE YOU OK?” shouted Hinata. MC gave a weak thumbs up in response. 

“ Trust me, compared to Ushijima’s serve to the face that was nothing,” the girl chuckled. The joke didn’t really hide the pain she was in. A filming assistant ran over and gave her an ice pack. MC nodded in thanks and took her seat again. “ Why does my head always suffer?”

“ Maybe it's karma for being a stalker,” Oikawa teased. MC glared at him for a while. Another buzzer buzzed. 

“ Contestant Tendou?” 

“ Well, Wakatoshi hasn’t always been the best talker,” Tendou said, “ And many girls he met didn’t really like him because of that,” Oikawa bursted out laughing. 

“ WOW USHIWAKA, THAT’S PATHETIC,” he wheezed. “ Maybe you should get some pointers from me on how to talk to girls,”

“ ANYWAY-” Tendou continued loudly. “ MC was one of the first girls who didn’t mind his bluntness and took his criticism and opinions well. Not only that, but Ushijima helped out MC when she was in trouble at the mall!” 

“ That’s true,” piped up Natsu. “ Ushijima and MC did make a good team at the shopping district,” 

“ YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY TEAM!” shouted Hinata. Team Ushijima gained 10 points. 

“ Alright, for this round Team Ushijima is first with 20 points, Team Tsukishima is second with 15 points, Team Hinata is also second with 15 points, and Team Oikawa last at 0,” 

“ DAMMIT IWA-CHAN WE’RE LOSING!” shouted Oikawa. 

“ LIKE I CARE!” bit back Iwaizumi. 

“ It’s ok Oikawa it isn’t like that’s the first time you and Iwaizumi lost to people from Shiratorizawa and Karasuno, ” smirked Tsukishima. This triggered unbridled rage in the duo. 

“ Next. Question. Please,” Iwaizumi growled, not wanting to prove Tsukishima right. 

“ Ok, last question for this round…. Overall, which one does MC show the most care for?” Four buzzers buzzed at once. “ Uh…… Yamaguchi, you go first,” 

“ TSUKISHIMA!” he shouted. “ THEY LITERALLY USED TO DA-!” 

“ YAMAGUCHI, NO!” screamed MC. She gestured to a certain livid blonde who sat two seats away from her. Tsukishima looked like he was about to murder him.

“ I-I mean… It was already kinda established that the two uh….” Yamaguchi mumbled. 

“ Ok, this is sad,” sighed Tendou. “ It’s got to be Wakatoshi-kun. She shows so much patience for him,” 

“ No no!” exclaimed Natsu. “ MC was willing to tutor my idiot of a brother,”

“ WAKATOSHI GOT TO GRAB HER SKIRT!” shouted Tendou. “ YOU CAN’T GET MORE INTIMATE THAN THAT!”

“ DON’T MAKE IT SOUND SO PERVY!” screeched MC. 

“ But you let me grab it,” insisted Ushijima. 

“ YEAH, BUT IT SOUNDS WEIRD OUT OF CONTEXT-”

“ WELL, SHE PEPPER SPRAYED AKITERU TO PROTECT TSUKKI!” argued Yamaguchi. 

“ YOU MAKE ME SOUND LIKE I WAS ABUSING HIM!” screamed Akiteru from the crowd. Their arguing was interrupted by Iwaizumi’s low laugh. 

“ All of your answers are pathetic,” he chuckled. “ MC THREW HERSELF OFF A FRIGGIN BOAT FOR OIKAWA!” 

“ WHAT?” everyone exclaimed. 

“ EXACTLY! NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD DO THAT FOR HIM! I WOULD’VE JUST LET HIM DROWN!” 

“ WHAT THE HELL IWA-CHAN?”

Kageyama suddenly stood up from his table like he had an epiphany and buzzed the buzzer. 

“ She should pick Hinata,” he stated. “ Because he hits good spikes,” 

“ Not really with the topic in question but I commend you for your effort,” sighed the host. 

“ No, he has a point,” nodded Ushijima. 

“ Wait, but if it's in a volleyball context then she should pick Wakatoshi,” said Tendou. “ Isn’t he the strongest?”

“ If he was the strongest, then he wouldn’t have lost to Karasuno!” argued Yamaguchi. “ Tsukki blocked some of his spikes, so that means he’s the best!”

“ Well Oikawa’s the best setter,” stated Ushijima. “ Which is why he should’ve come to-” the brown haired boy’s statement was interrupted by a bag of ice hitting his face. Everyone turned their face to see MC pointing to Oikawa. 


	9. The Rental Boyfriend and the Rock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MC gets worried about Oikawa, who is obviously overworking himself but denies it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally forgot that the MC's surname is "Nagomi" so don't be too surprised when people call the MC "Nagomi" instead of "MC"

~MC POV~

  
  


The ball makes contact with my face again, making me lose my balance and eventually fall on my butt. 

“ Are you all right?” asks Oikawa, shaking with laughter. I glower at him for a while then stood back up. 

“ Peachy,” I say sarcastically. Ever since I promised Hinata and Kageyama that I would tutor them again, I decided that having Oikawa teach me volleyball wasn’t too bad of an idea. But I forgot to put the fact that the ball always found my way to my face into consideration. But I really wanted to understand Kageyama and Hinata more in order to teach them a bit better. “ Again!” Oikawa smirks, then reaches out his hand to help me up. 

“ Very well then my pupil, the Great and Wonderful Oikawa-Sensei will lift your-” 

“ Don’t get too carried away you creepy weirdo,” I scold, taking his hand anyway. I lift myself back up and we keep on practicing. Bumps were ok, serves were difficult, but setting came to me the easiest by far. That didn’t mean I was good at them though. 

“ Shit!” I curse, when the ball flies out of my hands and to the other side of the gym. “ I thought I was getting in the hang of setting!” Oikawa chuckles. 

“ You aren’t slapping the ball ya know,” he sighs, coming to my side. “ Look at my hands. See how I’m using my fingers and putting them in the shape of a triangle?” I look closer and see his hands outstretched, his pointer fingers and thumbs facing each other. I nod, then copy his hands. I look at him expectantly. “ Put your elbows up, and your hands above your head. Square your elbows and feet to where you want the ball to go,” I follow his instructions accordingly. “ Now push the air with both hands at the same time!” I nod, then push the air. 

“ Don’t do it with your palm! Keep your fingers the same position!” Oikawa scolds. I take a few deep breaths, then try again. 

“ Ok, now let’s try that with a ball!” Oikawa says, tossing a ball to me. Without thinking, I duck. The ball bounces on the ground for a few seconds before Oikawa finally says something. “ Why the hell did you dodge?” 

“ When your cranium’s been abused by those things countless times, you tend to unconsciously duck!” I reply. Oikawa sighs and shakes his head. 

“ The ball isn’t going to hurt you too badly,” 

“ HAVE YOU BEEN SERVED TO THE FACE BY USHIJIMA?” I shout back, lifting my bangs (if you don’t have them, you don’t need to lift them) and pointing at the bandage on my head. “ HE DID IT RIGHT AT MY WOUND! IT LITERALLY BLED EVERYWHERE! I COULD BARELY WALK WITHOUT THE WORLD SPINNING-” I stopped once I saw Oikawa’s concern for me. 

“ It was that bad?” Oikawa asks. “ It bled?” 

“ Yes it did, but it’s fine now,” I reassure him. “ Ok, let’s get back to practicing,” I stand up and pick up a volleyball. “ Please just toss it to me a little gently,” Oikawa nods, then tosses me the ball. 

~Mini Skip~

I was sitting at my desk, tapping my cheek with my pencil. I consulted Yachi for information on Kageyama and Hinata’s practice habits, but it was difficult to incorporate that to academics. Thankfully, Yachi had answered a few answers for me. Kageyama valued repetition in order to learn. He kept on trying until it was basically muscle memory. However there was his talent and sheer genius to consider, which obviously didn’t really apply to him regarding his studies. Hinata also valued repetition, but that wasn’t how he  _ learned _ . Repeating things helped him get used to certain things, but how did Hinata understand? How do certain things “click” for him? My thoughts were interrupted by the medical tape holding my gauze to my gash falling in front of me. I sigh and go to my mirror, medical kit in hand. 

The wound was almost completely scabbed over, but had purple and green splotches around it. The bruise was probably from Ushijima’s serve. Ignoring common sense, I press on it. Pain shot from my head to my toes. Testing my face even more, I tried various expressions. Every time I wiggled my eyebrows too much, the scab seemed to move all around the place so I made a note to myself to not do that. 

“ I don’t think I need to apply these anymore,” I say to myself, tossing my used gauze and medical tape to the trash. I turn my head a bit, then part my hair to cover it a bit more (sorry if you don’t have the right haircut bro). Sighing in defeat, I head back to my desk to keep on studying. 

~Work~

I ring the bell and present a tray of tea and china to the waitresses at my counter. I then sigh and rub my head with my gloved finger tips. This has by far been one of my more busier weeks at the maid cafe that I work in. The place has been busier in general ever since Tendou became a part time confectioner here. Everyone had been coming specifically on his days just for a  _ chance _ to try his sweets and I wouldn’t blame them. Tendou’s pretty much a prodigy at this. The bell at the door rang and a few familiar faces walked in. Trying my best not to scream, I forcibly crack a smile. 

“ W-welcome to the Wonder Parlor Masters!” I greet. Oh god, it’s Tsukishima and his brother. What little opportunity I had to salvage any good image Tsukishima had of me was completely destroyed by the maid outfit and new job. Mentally grabbing my fleeting will to live, I keep it together. 

“ Oh! It’s your tutor!” grins Akiteru. “ Hello again Ms….” 

“ Nagomi,” I say, my voice cracking. “ Nagomi MC, but please just call me MC. Please follow me,” Grabbing two menus, I walk over to an empty table.  _ Please don’t say anything please don’t say anything please- _

“ Only one is necessary. I already have an order in mind, ” Tsukishima tells me, taking his seat. I perk up a bit in surprise. Really? No sarcastic remark on my outfit? 

“ I see, may I take it?” I reply. 

“ Strawberry Shortcake and coffee,” he answers. “ Also, nice outfit. It really accentuates the lack of skin on your head,” Feeling embarrassed, I adjust my bangs so the wound could be less seen. Gosh I hope nobody else heard that. I managed to convince my boss that it would be ok to let me keep on working in the front as long as I kept the ugly wound out of sight. 

“ O-of course,” I stutter. Tsukishima raises his eyebrow at me, waiting for me to say something. “ M-master,”  _ Kill me now _ , I ask some other worldly deity. “ Your maid will be here soon, please enjoy,” I walk away, my face hotter than a crucible. Yeah, I’m going to lay awake thinking about this for a while. 

~Tsukishima’s POV~

_ Damn it _ , I thought, watching her walk away. I only came here because I heard that the strawberry shortcake was fantastic, but ended up seeing her again. 

“ Kei?” asks Akiteru. I hum to show that I was listening. “ What kind of relationship do you and MC have?” 

“ Friends,” I respond bluntly, putting on my headphones. Pride and common sense had kept me from telling my older brother about my relationship with MC before but now I don’t know how to properly convey our relationship status. What do you even call “ ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend who still maintain a good friendship except that the ex-boyfriend is conflicted over his feelings for his ex-girlfriend now that the ex-girlfriend is dating another guy”? Actually, I think you would call that a mess. Another maid arrived with a plate of my cake and coffee. Grabbing the fine cutlery, I take a bite of the treat. 

“Damn,” I mutter, taking another bite. It was nothing short of delicious. Akiteru reaches over with his fork towards my cake, I slap his wrist in response. 

“ Sharing is caring Kei,” he whines. I continue to munch on the five star treat while actively ignoring the flirty maid that now services us.  _ I’ll just get takeout next time, do they do take out? _ After our meal and time at the restaurant, another maid approaches our table. 

“ We’re doing this lottery for the customers who paid over 3,000 yen!” she informs us cheerily. “ First Prize is a trip to the hot springs, Second Prize is a flat screen TV, Third Prize is free entry to the cafe for two months, and Fourth Prize are maid bromides!” 

“ Maid bromides?” asks Akiteru. 

“ Yup! You get three random card packs and they all have one picture of a maid who works at our cafe!” she answers. I stiffen. A picture of MC in a maid outfit? Who wants that? Who in their right mind would-

“ Sure, let’s try,” I say without thinking.  _ What the hell Kei? _ I curse myself internally. The maid nods then briskly walks away. After a few minutes, she comes back pushing a cart with a lottery wheel. “ Do you wanna spin it?” I ask my brother. He shrugged in response. I held the handle and started to spin the wheel. A few moments later, a yellow ball drops out. The maid rings a bell. 

“ Congratulations! You two won the maid bromides!” she cheers. 

“ Could we trade it out for anything else?” aaskssked Akiteru. “ My little brother isn’t really interested in that kind of stuff,” Dammit Akiteru You choose now to think about my opinion!   
  


“ Sorry,” says the maid sheepishly. “ No trades! But if you get certain rare cards, you can trade  _ those _ ,” I shrug, then rip open all three to find the one I was searching for.

“ Congratulations sir! That card’s one-of-a-kind! The maid was way too shy, so she asked for us to print only one bromide!” the maid exclaims. “ You can trade it in for something or…” 

“ No thank you,” I replied curtly. “ I know exactly what I’ll do with it,” The maid cocks her head. After we paid the bill, I approached MC and shove the photo into her hand. 

“ What the hell is this?” I ask her. She observes the picture and then blushes wildy. Holding the photo behind her back, she attempts to stutter out an excuse but I wasn’t having it. “ You clearly don’t seem comfortable at all with the thoughts of your photo out. Be happy it was me who got it and not some random creep,” I turn and walk away, box of strawberry shortcake in hand. 

~MC POV~ 

He saw the bromide. He saw it, he saw it, he saw it….. I hold the counter for some support. I’m never going to live this down. I can hear this echoing through my future already. I hear the kitchen door open. 

“ Uh MC, you ok? I see smoke coming from your head,” said Tendou, pointing at my cranium. 

“ It’s just my will to live escaping,” I murmur. “ Could I use the kitchen for a moment to burn this?”

~Home~

My phone buzzes. I look from my laptop to it and see a text from my grandmother.  _ Finally figured out how to work this stupid thing! I’m finally going to get out of this wretched hospital in a week or two! Tell Tooru I said hi! _ A week or two until I have to “break” it to her that Oikawa and I “broke up”. I groan and put my hands to my head. Why is everything so complicated? She won’t be too disappointed in me, will she? So far I’ve been renting Oikawa for around a month and a half. When this arrangement eventually stops…. Will we just never see each other again? The thought gnaws at me for a while. Of course we would see each other since we’re neighbors…. But wasn’t this entire relationship deprived from lies? Would he stop trying to teach me volleyball? 

“ I need some air,” I murmur. I grab a warm jacket, my bag of essentials and make my way to the door before I feel a sensation on my leg. Looking down, I see the volleyball Oikawa gave to me that was intended for practicing. Deciding to humor myself, I take the volleyball with me. Now where should I go? For some reason, my legs unconsciously lead me to the gym which is still open for some reason. Well, might as well practice some volleyball. Outside the doors of the court, I hear squeaks from the polished wooden floor and the booms of a ball hitting the ground. Opening the door carefully, I find a familiar brunette practicing jump serves. Not noticing my presence, he keeps on hitting the balls harder and harder. I faintly recall the receptionist that some other psychopath had been at the gym for a few hours already. It couldn’t be Oikawa… right? He did tell me that he went a little easier on practice.

“ Oikawa…. What are you doing at this hour?” I ask him. He freezes for a moment, but then keeps on serving the ball as if nothing happened. 

“ What does it look like?” he replies. 

“ Fair enough,” I chuckle. “ Just don’t overdo it,” I take my ball, and start to practice sets against the wall. It was a quiet few minutes with no conversation between Oikawa and I, but it didn’t feel awkward at all. We were just two friends practicing volleyball. Friends? Are we friends? Isn’t this just a client/customer relationship? When Gran gets better…. Oh yeah, Grandma. 

“ Grandma says ‘hi’ by the way,” I tell Oikawa. He stops for a moment. 

“ Really?” he says. “ Tell her I said ‘hi’ right back,” 

“ And she-” I stop talking for a moment. Why won’t the words come out? Why am I so scared to tell him that she’s going to get better? He’s not going to just back out of his promise to help me become more confident… Is he? “ She’s going to leave the hospital in a week or two,” Oikawa turns to me with a smile. 

“ Really? That’s great!” he replies. “ But judging from her stubbornness, she’ll get out in a few days out of sheer willpower,” I laugh because I can already visualize my grandmother ripping off her IV and marching back home. “ But don’t think the contract’s over just because  _ she’s _ out,” I hold in a sigh of relief. 

“ But why? I told you I would rent you because she-”

“ My grandmother also wants to meet you,” he answers. “ Aren’t you lucky to be ‘dating’ me for a little while longer? And for free too!” I smile softly in return. “ Also, just because you aren’t renting me anymore doesn’t mean I’ll break my promise. Before I go to Argentina, you’ll be swimming with 100% confidence!” I stare at him for a moment. 

“ But why? Why are you doing this?” I ask him. “ I get that you might be a ‘nice guy’ but helping me to this extent? Don’t you have your studies? Your job? Won’t I just be a burden?” Oikawa puts his hand to his chin and thinks for a while. 

“ There are two answers to that,” he says. “ One, you friggin saved my life. I owe you so much more for that. Two, I can’t imagine being too afraid to play volleyball. I could tell immediately that you loved swimming but never had the courage to go as far as you could with the sport,” He holds another ball in his hand and starts to serve before we hear the receptionist’s voice. 

“ CLOSING TIME!” she announces. “ CLEAN UP!” Oikawa stops for a moment, before turning to the young lady. Combing his hair with his fingers, he looks at the girl with a charming gaze. 

“ Oh please Miss,” he says in a deep, husky voice. “ Please let me stay a bit more,” The lady swoons at the sight of him. 

“ I-I’ll make an exception. Just this once,” she stutters. I sigh and take my leave. 

“ It’s impressive how you’ve been practicing here for five hours straight! You’re so strong~” That sentence makes me stop in my tracks. 

“ Five hours?” I repeated, turning to Oikawa. He avoids my gaze sheepishly. I approach him and whiff. He smells absolutely disgusting. “ As far as I know, pretty boys aren’t resilient against body odor or fatigue. Sorry ma’am, but I’m taking him home,” 

“ You can’t make me! You’re not Iwa-chan,” he protests. I pull out my phone and show him one of my contacts. 

“ Iwaizumi gave me his contact in case you were ever reckless again,” I tell him with a calm smile. “ I wonder how he would react if he finds out that you aren’t taking proper care of yourself~” That was an absolute bluff. Iwaizumi was too busy scolding Oikawa for me to even approach him, much less ask him for his number. But Oikawa hopefully forgot that and will listen to me. I maintain as good of a poker face as I can while maintaining full eye contact. At the awkward silence, the young employee leaves the gym. Right when she closes the door, Oikawa spoke. 

“ PLEASE DON’T SELL ME OUT TO IWA-CHAN I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME MORE THAN THAT!” he exclaims, clapping his two hands together. Holy shit it worked. 

“ Fine,” I say. “ But you HAVE to take more care of yourself,” Oikawa nods profusely. Together, we pick up the volleyballs and clean up. As we walk home, I notice a slight stagger in the way he walked. 

“ How’s your knee holding up?” 

“ Fine actually, it still stings on some bad days,” he replies. “ You go to university right?” 

“ Yeah,” 

“ What’s your major?”

“ Marine Science,” At those words, Oikawa stops walking and laughs. 

“ YOU STUDY MARINE SCIENCE AND YOU’RE SCARED OF SWIMMING?” he exclaims. “ I KNOW YOU’RE A LOT OF THINGS BUT UNREALISTIC ISN’T ON THE LIST!” He keeps on laughing. I flush pink. 

“ I’M PLANNING ON BEING A TEACHER!” I respond. 

“ WITHOUT ANY EXPERIENCE ON THE FIELD?” he wheezes. “ THAT’LL GET YOU A LOT OF JOBS!” 

“ AND I’M NOT  **SCARED** OF SWIMMING, I JUST HAVE AN IRRATIONAL SENSE OF DREAD WHENEVER I’M IN THE WATER TOO DEEP OR TOO LONG WHICH MAKES ME WANT TO RESURFACE AS SOON AS I CAN- STOP LAUGHING!” 

  
  


~At University~   
  


Silently crying, I lug the numerous textbooks, worksheets, and lab materials in my backpack. Why are all my classes so far apart? Why do I have to walk so much? My back aches so much, at this point my posture’s going to make me look like a hunchback. The literal weight on my body was suddenly lifted. 

“ Fix your posture or your back will hurt permanently,” a familiar deep voice states. Ushijima is holding the top strap of my backpack with only one hand. 

“ Hey Ushijima,” I greet. “ Thanks for carrying up my backpack, but you do realize I’m still attached to it right?” I’m on my tippy toes, feeling like a kitten being carried by its neck. 

“ I need a favor to ask of you…” he starts, putting me down. I nod and beckon him to continue. 

“ You’re doing pretty well so far in your studies, I don’t think you need any extra help for that,” I reassure him. 

“ It isn’t that,” Ushijima dismisses. “ It’s just that in a week… it will be Tendou’s birthday. My old school friends want to plan a birthday party for him and I thought it would be best to invite you and Mia along… We also need help planning,” 

“ Of course!” I exclaim. “ Tendou is a great guy and I’ll be honored to help out a bit,” I grinned at Ushijima. “ Could you add me to some sort of ‘Tendou Birthday Groupchat’ so I can help plan things out?” He nods and we share contacts. “ So where’s your next class? Maybe we could walk together?” Ushijima hesitates for a little before answering. 

“ I believe Botany,” he replies. I laugh a bit. 

“ I know I should be surprised, but I’m not,” I chuckle. “ You did give me that wonderful sapling after all,” Ushijima nods in response. 

“ It’s not that I’m planning on actually pursuing Botany. It just happened to give me enough credits and it’s also a subject that I enjoy. Volleyball is my future, I’m sure of it,” Ushijima was looking straight ahead. I could tell that he wasn’t necessarily looking for the school building, but envisioning his future. Even though I never saw him play an official match, there was no doubt in my mind that Ushijima was going to achieve the future that he was picturing.  _ Damn, I want that confidence _ , I think enviously. 

“ How is it?” Ushijima suddenly asks. 

“ Huh?” I reply. He gestures to my forehead. “ Oh… It doesn’t look pretty but I think it’s healing pretty fine,” I show Ushijima the healing scab. “ Sleeping’s an absolute pain though,” 

“ The bruises....” he says. “ Did I really do that?” Sensing his guilt, I shake my head profusely. 

“ You didn’t! I mean you technically did, but not on purpose!” I reassure him. “ It doesn’t even hurt- Ouch! Actually, I take that back, it kinda does but that’s ok!” Flailing my arms around, I do my best to make sure that Ushijima does not blame himself. Seeing my panic, a rumbling noise erupts from the back of his throat. Is he… laughing? 

“ I understand now, you don’t have to go so far,” he says. “ However, I will still take responsibility for it. My serves should be more controlled and pinpointed. If something like that happened to anyone else, then they might’ve pressed charges. I must be careful next time,” 

“ But I would  _ hate _ to be on the opposing team you know,” I chuckle. “ I mean, you would be a really hard opponent to defeat. In volleyball I mean,”

“ I am,” Ushijima answers. “ But in my last year of highschool, something rather odd happened. Perhaps odd is the wrong word, but I felt it was rather strange at the time. There was no doubt in my mind that we would win and go to Spring Nationals and yet… We didn’t. Our team, Shiratorizawa, was the best team in the entire prefecture. No other could withstand us. Not Aoba Johsai, not Dateko, and not Johzenji. And yet Karasuno appeared and defeated us. I never felt the need to prove that we were strong, for the results showed itself. But during that certain match, I wanted to absolutely  **destroy** a player. Like I wanted to prove something to him,” 

“ Who was that player?” I ask, getting invested in Ushijima’s story. 

“ Hinata Shoyo,” he answered. My eyes widen. Hinata? The ray of sunshine? 

“ How?” I ask. 

“ He showed this baseless confidence that he was going to somehow defeat Shiratorizawa, was only 5’3 with no technique and no game sense, and only relied on instinct and athleticism. And yet...” Ushijima hesitated. “ He still scored against us. Volleyball is all about height, so I figured that he was smart to make up for his weakness. And yet he wasn’t. It made no sense, his presence on the court had no logic. His playing challenged my view on volleyball and I despised it. I needed to prove to him that my way of thinking is superior by winning. It was the first time I wanted to  **crush** someone in my life,” 

We stop walking on sight of the science building doors. 

“ Has your way of thinking changed?” I ask him. “ After that fateful volleyball match. Has it changed?” Ushijima hesitated for a while before finally answering. 

“ A little bit,” 

~Volleyball Practice~

“ Uhhh, Oikawa?” I ask. I stop setting the ball towards him. “ Are you sure you should still be teaching me?” Oikawa sighs dramatically. 

“ Of course~ Again, I’m doing this out of my own time and-”

“ Yes, I completely understand that it’s just that…. You must be really tired,” I explain. “ You’re a rental boyfriend, you practice for  **several** hours straight a day, and you must be pretty damn exhausted,” I hold the ball closer to me. “ You should take a break,” 

“ I’m fine,” Oikawa says, sounding a bit annoyed this time. “ Now keep on setting to me,” I sigh and keep on setting to him. Would the Iwaizumi card work to get him to take a break? I shake my head. As much as I hate to admit it, Oikawa’s too smart for that to work again. Should I drag him out by force? What do I do? I hesitated in my thinking for a while. I don’t actually know who Oikawa is or what kind of person he is. I don’t have the right to patronize him or scold him. But that doesn’t mean that I should put my faith in him to make good decisions either….  _ DAMMIT MC HE’S A GROWN ASS MAN-CHILD! _ My inner voice screamed at me. I should just let him live his life…. 

“ Oh, my grandmother wants to see you tomorrow at the hospital,” Oikawa suddenly informs me. “ So be ready. Also, we should move on to your serves. They suck,” 

“ I don’t need a reminder,” I sigh. “ The last time I served, I somehow hit it to my head. I don’t even know how that’s possible,” 

“ Anything is possible,” Oikawa chirps. “ If you suck enough!” 

“ You worded it like I had to suck a dick to get anything in life,” I sigh. 

“ I mean… I don’t know you so that isn’t entirely imposs-” I hurl a volleyball at his face Iwaizumi-style. Oikawa started chuckling, which turned into a full fledged maniacal laughter. “ I have been trained under countless abuses from Iwa-chan’s training! That felt like nothing but a summer’s breeze to me! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” 

“ Doesn’t that technically mean you screwed up so many times that you’ve gotten used to Iwaizumi hitting you?” I ask. “ Not only is that pathetic, that’s just really irresponsible of you. I kinda feel bad for Iwaizumi now….” 

“ Hey! I’ll have you know that back in highschool, Iwaizumi willingly took me as his volleyball captain! I did some stuff for him too!” Oikawa exclaims. 

“ Yeah… I’m sure,” I respond sarcastically. 

~Grandma Sayuri Visit~

“ Hello Grandma Sayuri,” I say cheerily.  _ Just like how Oikawa always played the charming boyfriend, I have to play the part of the responsible girlfriend _ , I tell myself. “ I’m so sorry that we couldn’t have talked more. In fact, I believe this is the first time you and I had a proper conversation to be honest,” I give the old woman a soft, and somewhat genuine, smile. 

“ It’s fine dear~” the old lady chimes. “ It’s Tooru’s fault for not introducing you sooner,” She gives the boy a sharp glare. Oikawa stiffens and turns his head away in fear. 

“ So how did you lovebirds meet? Why don’t you call Tooru by his given name, and why didn’t you tell us about your relationship any sooner?” Grandma Sayuri asks. Thankfully, we were prepared for these questions. 

“ We met at a cafe,” Oikawa answers. “ Nothing too spectacular, but I think it’s kinda obvious that I made the first move,” He smirks at me and I playfully punch him in the shoulder. 

“ I was just surprised that someone so attractive was talking to me,” I chuckle. “ I don’t call Oikawa by his given name because I don’t feel that we’re that close yet, which was the same reason why we didn’t tell our families about our relationship yet. We weren’t really sure whether we would be serious or not,” 

“ Ah, so were you two fuck buddies beforehand or...?” 

I choke on my saliva. 

“ GRANNY!” exclaims Oikawa. “ NOT APPROPRIATE!” 

“ What? I thought you kiddos were comfortable with that kind of talk,” responds the old woman serenely. “ So you two haven’t knocked boots yet?” 

“ NO!” 

That made me choke even more. I kept on gagging and trying to regain my breath as Oikawa kept on rubbing my back before he stood up. 

“ I-I’ll get you some water,” he tells me. “ Hang tight you two!” Grandma Sayuri turns to me. 

“ I apologize dear,” she says to me. “ That was quite intrusive of me,” I shook my head and straightened my back.

“ I-it was,” I confess. “ But I’ll get over it,” 

“ So how do you feel about Oikawa and volleyball?” the old lady asks. Dammit, Oikawa and I didn’t rehearse on what to say. I didn’t expect she would ask this kind of question… Might as well answer genuinely.

“ I really admire his passion behind the sport,” I admit. “ He’s so dedicated to it, which I completely understand. But now and then I worry for him,” 

“ Worry?”

“ He practices…. A lot…” I say. “ Which is completely normal for an athlete but sometimes I worry that he overworks himself or overestimates his own limits. I want to tell him to stop overworking himself but I don’t feel like I have any right to…. But I want to have faith in him too,” I look down and grip my skirt with my hands tightly. 

My worries were met with soft bouts of laughter. I looked up to see Grandma Sayuri covering her mouth with her blanket.

“ Sorry love, it’s just that you remind me of Hajime a bit,” she chuckles. “ I don’t suppose you know Iwaizumi Hajime? He’s Tooru’s best friend… The ‘bestest in the world!’ is how Tooru would describe him. Volleyball is Tooru’s life you know…. And Tooru wanted to be the best volleyball player of them all. This led to overworking and eventual exhaustion on Tooru’s part. When we told him to stop, he would feel encouraged to play even more. And when we forcibly took volleyball away from him, he just seemed lifeless. Nobody in our family knew what to do…. Until Hajime slapped some sense into the young man. Now I don’t know what he said specifically, but I just know that when Hajime spoke, Tooru listened. You see, Hajime was Tooru’s rock in a sense. He was always there for Tooru when he needed him. But when they graduated highschool, he chose to study abroad in the States. Now without Hajime, I was worried that Tooru would go back to his old ways… I’m a bit sad to know that I was right,” 

“ I-I’m sorry for worrying you ma’am,” I apologize. I had no idea how close Iwaizumi and Oikawa were… What right did I have, acting like I could just tell Oikawa to stop practicing? But I want to do something for him… anything….

“ It’s natural for someone to be worried if the person they love is in trouble,” Grandma Sayuri comforts. “ You have every right to fuss over Tooru if he gets hurt or if he’s in trouble. I know that you aren’t Hajime, but you still worry…. You should help Tooru in your own way,” 

We stayed there in silence for a while as thoughts ran through my mind. How can I help him? How can I make Oikawa listen to me? I turn my head at the sound of cheerful rapping at the doorway. 

“ Guess who’s back, and with snacks!” grins Oikawa, his arms full of treats and drinks. 

“ So he’s really that good of a kisser?” the old woman suddenly gushes. “ And I don’t think that comment on his body was really necessary, MC,” 

“ WHEN DID I SAY ANY OF THOSE THINGS?!” I exclaim. Oikawa drops the snacks and drinks to cover up his body. 

“ WHAT DID YOU SAY TO GRANNY WHILE I WAS GONE YOU SUPER PERVERT!?” 

“ NOTHING I SWEAR!”  _ That dirty old woman!  _ Beforehand I thought she would be gentle and conservative, but she really just wants to see more great-grandchildren. The conversation after that was slightly more awkward, but it slowly gained more momentum at the end. Thankfully, Grandma Sayuri didn’t say anything more…. Inappropriate after that. After two hours of delightful conversation, it was time for Oikawa and I to leave. 

“ Take care you two!” the old woman cheered. “ Tooru, I look forward to seeing your next volleyball match!” Oikawa grins and gives his grandmother a wink, then waves her goodbye. As we walked out of the hospital, Oikawa says: 

“ So…. about my body-” 

“ For the last time, I said nothing about it!” 

~At The Apartment~

I still can’t sleep dammit. Even though I’m curled up with my comfiest blanket, in my comfiest position, my mind and body refused to rest. I look at my phone for the time.  _ It’s 2:00 AM  _ already. My mind’s still racing with ideas, schemes, and thoughts for me to somehow help out Oikawa. Suddenly, a question arose in the blur. Why do this for him? My thoughts cease as I try to find an answer.  _ YOU IDIOT! _ screeches a voice in my head. Do I really need a reason to help anyone? What sort of selfish human being would just leave a person to overwork themself right when they could help? My mind goes back to brainstorming how I can help him. What do I do? Bribe him with milk bread? Recently his steps have gotten a bit sluggish and I can tell that he’s using makeup to cover up the dark circles under his eyes…. And yet he still puts up this act of the perfect boyfriend and teacher. I wish I could be just as strong as him. I remember he told me that “six who are strong are stronger” while we were practicing volleyball. My guess is that he meant that a strong team is better than a strong player…. It reminds me of relays in my swimming days. If one of us slowed the team down, there would be a teammate to rely on… If we failed, we failed as a team…

“ HOLY SHIT THAT’S IT!” I exclaim, sitting up. I heard pounding from the wall next to me. “ Sorry!” 

~The Next Day~

Oikawa’s POV

_ Ok, now for my lady-killer move _ . I raise my arm and pull my client towards me while looking at her, slightly lowering my eyelashes. 

“ You have to be careful in these kinds of crowds dear,” I say in my most soothing voice. “ You could get lost, and where would I be if that happened?” The girl’s face bursts into red and nods. 

“ Y-yeah Oikawa-san,” she murmurs. Ok so the plan the client, Yuki-chan, sent me is pretty straight forward. Step one, a walk around the park. Step two, rowboat ride on the park’s lake. Step three, the final step, is to eat at a local cafe. Thankfully, Yuki-chan is a cute client so it’s a bit easier to pretend I’m head over heels for her. So far, the date’s been perfect… I look impeccable (as always), the weather’s spectacular, and my knee isn’t in massive amounts of pain! I just need to achieve steps one through three and I can have volleyball practice! Wait… is today MC’s teaching day? Do I have to visit her grandmother today? What day is it…. CLIENT! FOCUS ON THE CLIENT!

“ You look lovely,” I tell Yuki. “ Your accessories really bring out your eyes,” 

“ I-I can’t believe you noticed!” she gushes. Of course I did, I’m the perfect “boyfriend” right now. I could hear swoons from surrounding ladies and some jealous murmurs from others. One of the best parts of having a fanclub in highschool is the insane amount of clients I get from  _ Rent-A-Boyfriend  _ (called Diamond on the app store in order to preserve our customers' dignity). Nobody could resist having  _ the _ Oikawa Tooru pretend to be their boyfriend. Pain suddenly shot through my knee. Dammit, not now! If I start limping in front of the client….

“ Would you like to get on a boat?” I asked her sweetly. “ I’m a pretty strong rower,” Yuki blushes and nods. We rented out a boat, and took to the water. Thankfully, my arms aren’t as sore as my legs from the extra training I’ve been doing. MC’s worried face flashes through my mind. No, I’m fine! I can handle this! People are always tired after exercising, it’s perfectly natural… Perfectly… perfectly…. My head bobs down and I snap out my sleepiness. 

“ NATURAL!” I shout, alarming Yuki. 

“ N-natural?” she stutters. “ What do you mean Oikawa-san?” 

“ Your beauty my dear,” I say. “ It’s completely natural,” She giggles and grins in response. Thank goodness I completely played that off! Dangit, she must be sort of weirded out now… Push through Tooru! Push through!

~Step Three~

Finally! Half an hour until salvation! So far, I’ve been able to play off every mistake while charming the pants off of Yuki! As expected of a 5 star rental-boyfriend like myself of course. We’re in the midst of Step 3, and I’m finishing up my lunch. Suddenly, I see an opportunity. 

“ Dear, you have something on your face-” I say, reaching to Yuki’s mouth with a napkin in my hand. Suddenly, I felt woozy and face planted right into her spaghetti. Everything went black. 

“ OH MY GOD, ARE YOU DROWNING IN SPAGHETTI?!” shrieks Yuki. Awoken by her loud voice, I lifted my face. 

“ N-NOT ANYMORE!” I reply. Dammit, I couldn’t possibly recover from that! This is way too embarrassing what do I do?

“ Oh, I’m so sorry!” apologizes a familiar voice. “ It appears that that boy's toy car made you slip! I’m the one babysitting him, I should’ve been more responsible...” I turn my head to see MC standing there with an apologetic smile on her face. She held up a small toy car and gestured to a boy sitting at a different table. Is that Hinata? There’s no way Yuki would be convinced that he’s a middle schooler! Then again Hinata does make a convincing child. Wait, what is MC doing here?! She really lives up to the name “Ms. Stalker”!!!

“ You two,” she continues. “ Look like a wonderful couple,” She smiles at us again, then walks out of the restaurant, holding Hinata by his wrist. 

“ You poor thing!” sighs Yuki, patting my face with a napkin. “ That weirdo should be more careful with her kid! How irresponsible of her!” Irking at the insults, I shake my head a bit. 

“ You know kids,” I chuckle, “ Impossible to control,” The rest of the day goes off without a hitch, and I finally get to go home and sleep. I suddenly get a notification from  _ Diamond _ . I have an appointment with another client week from now? Dang… I’m going to have to cancel with MC for volleyball that day. I look at the client, and her name is “Mary Sue” who wants to plan the date herself and make it a surprise? Unexpected… But doable. I got this. 

~Date with “Mary Sue”~   
  


According to Mary-chan, I only had to bring some athletic wear. I can’t afford to mess this up like last time… Looking beautiful (again, like always), I wait outside of a coffee shop for her. 

“ Tooru Oikawa?” says a familiar voice. “ I’m your client, Mary Sue,” I look up from my phone to see MC standing there with an athletic bag slung over her shoulder. “ And the date plan today is volleyball!” She takes my hand suddenly and leads me to the gym. Just what the hell is this girl planning? Isn’t she  _ against _ me playing volleyball? We each changed into our respective athletic gear. Looking into the full-body mirror, I noticed some of the foundation I put on prior to this date was fading which revealed the dark circles underneath my eyes. I quickly covered it, and walked to the gym. Stepping in the gym, I see a basket full of volleyballs.

“ Come on. Or is that 5 star rating on Rent-a-Boyfriend just for show?” teases MC. She sets the ball to me and I catch it. 

“ Why are you doing this?” I ask her, cutting straight to the chase. MC grins at me. 

“ Well, you wouldn’t listen to me as MC,” she admits. “ But you  **have** to listen to a customer, no?” I shrug and set it back to her. After a few rounds, MC suddenly stops and looks at the ground. I stiffen and mentally prepare myself to tell her, “ It’s none of your business whether or not I’m working hard,” or “ Only Iwa-chan can tell me to stop practicing,” and the repetitive lie I would tell myself and others: “I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” 

“ I’m fine-” I start. MC slams the ball down. 

“ No you’re not,” she mutters. I start getting a bit frustrated. 

“ It’s none of your business-” I reply. 

“ Yes it is,”

“ Only Iwa-chan can-” 

“ I KNOW!” she exclaims, looking me in the eye. “ I know I’m not Iwaizumi-san, but I feel so  **frustrated** when you keep on doing this to yourself. I’m not telling you to stop practicing and I’m not telling you to stop trying! I just want you to improve without hurting yourself!” 

“ What the hell would you know?!” I exclaim. “ I’m just fine-” 

“ That isn’t what I saw at that date before! Your client may not have noticed, but I did!” MC shouts at me. She grew more quiet with worry. “ You were on the verge of collapsing, and you still are right now. You may not give a crap about yourself, but I do! Everybody else does! So stop being such a goddamn idiot and think!” 

“ I AM! IF I DON’T PRACTICE THAN, THAN-” I bite back. I haven’t lost my cool in such a long time…

“ **I’M NOT TELLING YOU TO STOP PRACTICING!** ” MC screams. “ I’m telling you to practice  **responsibly** ! If you do something you regret because of that overwork, where will you be now? If your knee causes you to permanently damage yourself, could you look me in the eye and say ‘Oh, at least I tried as hard as I could! That was completely worth it! The results I got are exactly what I wanted!’,” 

“ But what can I do then huh?” I say. “ What genius plan do you have up your sleeve?” 

“ ‘Six who are strong are stronger,’” she quoted. “ That’s what you said right? To reiterate, I have no intention of making you stop practicing. Volleyball is your life and I understand that. But, I don’t want you to work yourself to the bone. Not alone, at least. I want to be there for you as your friend. I know I’m no Iwaizumi, but I still want to support you… T-to you know…. Help in any way I can… And don’t give me any crap about leaving in order to help you because that isn’t going to happen!” I stared at the determined girl for a while in shock. She wants to be there for me? Ever since Iwa-chan left, have things really gone downhill that much? The pain in my knee I’ve been ignoring made its presence known and for once in a long, long time, I let it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all a bunch of stuff piled up, so updates are gonna be pretty sporadic. Sorry bros

**Author's Note:**

> Ever wondered how Oikawa got enough money to go to Argentina? Yeah, me too.


End file.
